


The Tale of Lyra Potter

by omigod



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Albus Dumbledore Being an Idiot, Arranged Marriage, Bad Albus Dumbledore, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Evil Albus Dumbledore, F/M, Female Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley Bashing, Hermione Granger Bashing, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Molly Weasley Bashing, Political Alliances, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Pureblood Harry Potter, Pureblood Politics (Harry Potter), Pureblood Society (Harry Potter), Ron Weasley Bashing, Safe Sane and Consensual, Sane Voldemort (Harry Potter), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:40:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27577972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omigod/pseuds/omigod
Summary: Little Lyra Potter was neglected by the Dursley’s. Even though her treatment wasn’t horrid, she still longs for a real family. When she finds out one of her godfathers is alive, well, and able to care for her, she goes through the process of sorting through why her godfather didn’t want her. And if he did, who convinced him to leave her on a doorstep all those years ago?
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Harry Potter/Voldemort
Comments: 109
Kudos: 459





	1. Hogwarts?

**Author's Note:**

> https://omigod.tumblr.com/post/636317614387412992/lyras-wand

Lyra Euphemia Potter was, what you would call, an anomaly. The child of ten, just shy of eleven, was undeniably beautiful. With her long raven hair that fell past her thighs and her bright, emerald green eyes, she caught the eye of all she met. Her skin was pale, not unhealthily so, but pale enough to be compared to moonlight given form. All the people on Privet Drive admired her for her features, but overlooked her because of her nature.

Lyra was often somber, a mask of indifference on her young face at all times, except when she chose to break it with a rare smile. They all loved to look at her, but no one wanted to see inside her, so she locked her true self away and rarely spoke, only using her lilting voice when it was necessary. 

She was doted on by her cousin, Dudley, because of her beauty, and because of his love for his little cousin, she was treated well in her Aunt’s household. The little girl often wondered what life would have been like had she not been born with her fair pink lips and high cheekbones. Her Aunt and Uncle’s disdain for her was clear, and she was glad for Dudley’s simple mind, for she didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if Dudley hadn’t cared about her at all.

Her bedroom was a converted attic that her Aunt said she could have, and Lyra was glad for that. The only way for anyone to get up into the attic was to pull down the foldable stairs that rested on the upstairs’ hallway’s ceiling. She had painted it a beautiful forest green color, and had taken a trimming of her Aunt’s rose bushes to plant in a large pot that Dudley had begged Uncle Vernon to buy her. The bed was small, but comfortable, and she enjoyed the time she spent in her attic reading.

On her ninth birthday, her Aunt had gifted her a trunk, saying it belonged to her mother. Her Aunt had also gifted her with the knowledge that her parents had died in a war, not in a car accident, like she’d been told. After the worn, brown leather had been hauled up to the attic, she opened the trunk cautiously and found nothing but books. Some were her mother’s diaries, some were photo albums of moving pictures, all labeled. She had poured through the photos eagerly, and a rare smile had graced her face. After watching all of the pictures, Lyra turned to the other books. She read through her mother’s diaries first and had marveled at the tales of a magical school called Hogwarts. Apparently, her mother was a witch, and her father a wizard. So what did that make her?

She quickly turned to the other books, finding school books, books on etiquette and books on the wizarding world in general. From what she’d read in her mother’s diaries, her mother and father had both been pureblooded magicals. So that made Lyra a pureblood as well. After reading about her mother’s struggles in the wizarding world, Lyra devoured the books on etiquette before turning to the books on learning magic. 

Lyra had devoured those just as quickly, and to her surprise, had begun casting spells. From what she’d read of her mother’s notes, you needed a _wand _to cast spells. She didn’t have a wand, she just had her body and the scent of mint and rose hips to accompany the first time she’d cast a spell.__

It was as easy as breathing for Lyra. She hadn’t even needed the incantation, _Wingardium Leviosa _. She’d merely found the bright blue-green ball inside her, and released it from it’s cage. She’d thought about levitating her mother’s trunk in the air, and it glided up beautifully, gracefully. Lyra could remember thinking that it probably wasn’t supposed to happen like that, but either way, she couldn’t bring herself to care. She was a witch, just like her mother. She’d smiled then, a genuine, bright smile.__

___That was the first time she’d sung._ _ _

___It was a slow, sweet melody, with no words at all, but it felt so _right _to throw her voice into the air without a care at all. The only way she could have described that moment was glorious. It was true, unadulterated glory that had flown from her lungs and she revelled in it.___ _ _

_____This was all that Lyra knew about herself and her strange new world, and she couldn’t wait to discover more._ _ _ _ _

* * *

_____She’d gotten her letter for Hogwarts promptly on her eleventh birthday and had swiftly said goodbye to Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley. She’d shrunken her trunk with a wordless charm, slipping it into the pocket of the white summer dress she wore. A forest green cardigan sat on her shoulders as she walked to the bus stop with the money Aunt Petunia had given her to get to London from Little Whinging._ _ _ _ _

_____As she sat on the bus, she went over what she needed to buy at Diagon Alley. Luckily, her mother’s diaries had explained the process of how to get into the Alley in detail, so she didn’t need to worry about losing her way. She had her mother’s old school books, so she didn’t need to buy new school books, but she’d need clothing, a wand, and just about everything else. Her mother’s diary had spoken about the bank, Gringotts, which was run by goblins. One of the later diaries had spoken of investing, so hopefully there’d be money for her. She’d almost certainly need to take an inheritance test, and she was suddenly glad for the book her mother had left about how to deal with goblins._ _ _ _ _

_____Lyra sighed, mentally preparing herself for all the talking she’d have to do today. She didn’t like talking, it was a waste of time. People would lie straight to your face and she’d just rather not deal with that. Dudley’s friends were constantly lying to her back at Privet Drive, and she truly didn’t have the energy to spare on liars. She’d decided early in her life on the philosophy that liars would get nowhere. Sure, lying was useful sometimes, but lying all the time would just land you in trouble._ _ _ _ _

_____As she traveled to London, she took the time to braid her long raven hair, wrapping a piece of hair around the end of the braid and using a handy sticking charm to keep it in place. Her mother’s books had given her numerous spells that applied makeup and swept her hair into different styles. She enjoyed taking care of her appearance, it soothed something inside of her and it was an easy way to practice using magic._ _ _ _ _

_____The bus came to a halt at her stop, and she flew down the steps before taking off on the sidewalk. Her mother’s notes had been very detailed, and soon she found herself outside a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. Stepping inside, she looked over the interior of the pub, finding it full of mire and middle aged men. With a barely contained groan, she stepped carefully over to the bar so as not to muss her white ballet flats. A scraggly looking man was peering at her oddly from behind the bar, but she shook it off and spoke quietly to him._ _ _ _ _

_____“I’d like to enter the Alley, if you’d be so kind as to open it for me.” She allowed her soft voice to carry over to the man, and watched as he just nodded dumbly before leading her to the back._ _ _ _ _

_____She was led to a brick wall, and the man whipped a long stick from his sleeve, which she assumed was his wand, before tapping it against several bricks. As the wall began to open, she nodded her head in thanks to the man as she memorized the sequence of bricks before stepping into Diagon Alley._ _ _ _ _

_____The Alley was crowded, witches and wizards bustling past, moving into and out of different stores at a surprising pace. Shaking herself out of her surprised stupor, she moved down the Alley toward the gleaming white building which her mother had described in her diaries as Gringotts Bank. Weaving her way through the crowds, she trotted up the pale marble steps before stepping into the bank._ _ _ _ _

_____Lined with counters holding goblins, the hall was largely made of marble with arching ceilings. Moving over to the nearest empty bench, she cleared her throat and began to speak._ _ _ _ _

_____“May your gold overflow and your enemies cower before your blade.”_ _ _ _ _

_____The goblin looked down at her, startled, and she could practically _see _the thoughts in his head of _‘Why is this child addressing me properly?’ _and she stifled her smile. The goblin blinked before answering her with the second half of the traditional greeting._____ _ _ _ _

_________“And may your rivals be slaughtered and your wealth burst from your vaults. How can I be of service, Miss…?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________“Potter. Lyra Potter. I require an inheritance test.” She folded her hands in front of her as the goblin nodded and waved over another before speaking in a language she couldn’t understand. The second goblin turned to her and motioned for her to follow, which she did willingly as she was led deeper into the bank. They slipped into a conference room, and she quickly took a seat as the goblin puttered around in a few drawers before offering her a sheet of blank parchment and a knife._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________“My name is Griphook, Miss Potter. Please place three drops of blood onto the parchment.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________Without hesitation, she took the knife in hand and nicked the tip of her finger, watching as three drops of blood fell on the parchment before the wound healed. She watched as the blood seeped into the parchment and spirals of ink began to curl into letters._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Lyra E. Potter_

_Age: Eleven_

_Status: Emancipated (due to familial circumstances)_

_Blood Purity: Pureblood_

_Magical Guardian:_

_Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore (voided due to emancipation and illegal filing)_

_Parents:_

_Lily J. Potter née Evans (deceased)_

_James Potter (deceased)_

_Godparents:_

_Sirius O. Black (imprisoned)_

_Severus T. Snape (blood-adopted father, living)_

_Alice Longbottom née Prewett (hospitalized)_

_Available Titles:_

_Lordship of Potter_

_Lordship of Black_

_Lordship of Peverell_

_Heir of Prince (via blood-adoption of Severus T. Snape)_

_(need for majority waived due to familial circumstances)_

_Vaults:_

_Potter Vaults: 230 million galleons, 65 million sickles, 83 million knuts_

_Black Vaults: 27 billion galleons, 528 million sickles, 902 million knuts_

_Peverell Vaults: 458 billion galleons, 972 billion sickles, 256 billion knuts_

_Properties:_

_Potter Manor (destroyed)_

_Black Manor_

_Peverell Manor_

_Twelve Grimmauld Place, London... ___

__

__

She read over the paper, barely stopping herself from blanching when she read over the summary for her vaults. She didn’t bother to read through all the properties, there were too many. Collecting herself, she turned toward Griphook. 

___________“Master Griphook, I’d like to claim my lordships as well as meet with my account managers. And if it is at all possible, I’d be grateful if a letter was sent to my godfather, Severus Snape.” To say she was in shock would be an understatement. She had a living godfather who wasn’t imprisoned and she’d still gone to live with the Dursley’s. While it wasn’t a horrible life, it certainly wasn’t a happy one. The knowledge she also had a magical guardian that could have provided for her but _didn’t _just made her angry.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________“Of course, Miss Potter. I’ll send for the account managers and I’ll have a message sent to Mr. Snape.” Griphook spoke quickly as he scribbled something down on a piece of parchment before throwing it into the air and watching it fly away. As the goblin left the room, she turned back to the inheritance test in front of her. She stubbornly ignored the ball of tightness growing in her chest when she thought about this mysterious godfather of hers._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________Lyra groaned and sat back against her chair. People were too complex to worry about. She’d meet this godfather of hers and find out who this Dumbledore person was before finally getting away from the Dursley’s. Her godfather didn’t even have to take her in, she was emancipated. She could go off and do whatever she pleased without anyone being able to stop her. The thought was… very appealing. She didn’t have much time to ponder that thought as three goblins trekked into the room with a file and small box each. Sitting up, she watched quietly as the goblins took their own seats._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________“Miss Potter. I am Ironclaw, these two are Bloodfang and Nagsaw. We manage your accounts. Griphook informed us of your wish to take up your lordships.” The goblin on her leftmost side spoke and she nodded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________“Yes, Master Goblins. I’d like to take up my lordships, and I would also like to know about investing.” She spoke calmly, and the three boxes were moved toward her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________“Please place each ring on your right hand, Miss Potter.” Nagsaw motioned to the boxes and she opened the first box, finding a simple gold ring decorated with the Potter Family crest. Slipping the ring on her right ring finger, she felt a rush of magic overtake her as the ring resized itself to fit her small hand. Running a finger reverently over the ring, she moved on to the next box, finding a silver ring with the Black Family crest and the words ‘Toujours Pur’. She slipped the ring onto her right pointer finger and waited. It took longer than the Potter ring, but the Black ring resized itself as she was filled with even more magic._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________Opening the last box, she was met with a ring of silver and gold decorated with the Peverell Family crest, and she pushed it onto her right middle finger. It took longer than the Black ring, but it too accepted her as it resized on her finger. With a small smile, she eyed her decorated hand before placing it in her lap._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________The boxes were quickly vanished as the group of four moved on to investing. She was bombarded with different investing strategies and the investments that had already been made, and she found her head spinning. Shaking herself, she quickly stopped the three frenzied goblins._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________“Wait a moment. Is there not a way, if you all would be so inclined, for perhaps you to deal with the investing of my accounts? I’m very willing to pay, of course.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________The three goblins stared at her in shock. She had to suppress the urge to fidget as she felt a blush rise in her cheeks. Had she said something wrong?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________“Lady Potter Black Peverell, witches and wizards do not trust us to manage their investments. They barely manage to trust us with managing their vaults.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________She blanched._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________“Why in heavens’ name not? Goblins run the only bank I’ve heard of in wizarding Britain and witches and wizards don’t trust you with _money _? That seems… like bad logic.” She was met by three sharp grins as she finished her confused rant and she fought to keep her back straight under the unnerving expressions.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________“We would be happy to manage your investments, Lady Potter Black Peverell. You are far wiser than most witches and wizards.” Bloodfang intoned and she smiled before the door to the conference room was pushed open._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________A goblin bowed quickly and ushered a man with pitch black hair and dark eyes into the room before leaving. He was dressed in coal robes and she tried not to shrink back as she met his intense gaze. He just stood there, staring at her, and she sat there, staring back. She blinked owlishly at the man before deigning to speak._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________“Mr. Snape, it’s come to my attention that you are my only living and free godfather.” She intoned softly, and her words seemed to shake the man out of his stupor. He quickly sat at the head of the table, nearest the door._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________“Indeed, Miss Potter. Is there a reason you have summoned me so… promptly?” Snape drawled and she sighed internally. So it was going to be like that, was it? Unknown to her, her eyes flashed as she set her bejeweled hand on the table and tapped her fingers in a silent show of power as her magic filled the room. This man was her godfather, didn’t he care about her at all?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________“Yes, Mr. Snape, there is. I’d like to know the reason why I was placed with relatives who very clearly strongly disliked me instead of yourself or my illegally filed magical guardian.” She smiled a sickly sweet sort of smile. “As I am emancipated, I have no need for a Godfather who clearly would rather not waste time on a girl, even if she is his Goddaughter, so you need not worry about troubling yourself with me.” She saw a flash of pain in the man’s eyes and she fought a satisfied smirk. Good. She wanted him to hurt. She wanted him to feel a fraction of the pain she felt when she found out she had a living family member that hadn’t wanted her, just like the Dursley’s. “I merely want my answers. If you’d rather pretend there’s no relation between us, then I shall defer.” Her smile turned sad and soft as she stared at her godfather, crossing her ankles tightly to relieve some of the pressure she felt in her chest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________“Lyra,” the man’s voice was deep and stilted, perfectly controlled with an underlayer of pain. “I never wanted to leave you with those _muggles _. Lily’s sister is the worst sort of person, but Albus insisted it would be safest for you there.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________She stared at him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________How could this man truly go along with whatever someone else said? How could he just… follow along blindly? She was eleven and even she wasn’t that stupid. And then her thoughts had slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” The man looked like he was about to respond with something indignant before she shook her head. “No, I’ve decided you’re too foolish to be left to your own devices.” Turning back to the goblins before he could say anything, she began speaking quickly before the man could interrupt._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“I assume there are purses I can purchase that can be linked to my vaults and blood?” At Ironclaw’s nod and Bloodfang’s movements to create the bags for her, she nodded her head in thanks before duplicating her inheritance test and offering the original to Nagsaw. She refused to acknowledge the way the other four blanched at her use of wordless and wandless magic as she brought the copied inheritance test closer to her. As she was presented with three small pouches, she quickly shrunk them and stuck them to the inside of her dress’ pockets._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“A pleasure, Lady Potter Black Peverell.” Ironclaw intoned as the three goblins fled the room and she turned back to her godfather who was staring at her, slack jawed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“Firstly, we’re going shopping. I’m in need of a wand, the potions supplies, and an entirely new wardrobe. I assume you have a home, because I refuse to go back to Privet Drive. We will go there secondly and talk.” She pinned Snape with a dead eyed stare and she saw him swallow and nod. With a coy grin, she dragged him out of Gringotts and into Diagon Alley._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________Glancing around, she found a sign that read _’Ollivander’s Wands’ _. Without a second thought, she waltzed over and into the shop, correctly assuming her godfather would follow her. Pushing open the door, she was met with a musty smelling space that was crammed full of shelves with boxes presumably holding wands. A scruffy man with a cloud of grey hair around his head made himself known as he puttered up to the front of the store.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Miss Potter, Mr. Snape. Welcome.” The old man wheezed, briefly acknowledging her godfather before turning to her. “I sold your mother her wand, you know. A fine wand, ten and a quarter inch, willow, swishy. A good wand for charmwork.” The man droned and she bit her tongue to keep from telling him to get on with it. She wasn’t here to listen about her parents who were long dead, she was here to purchase a wand. The man moved over to a box and pulled out a wand, offering it to her. “Give it a wave.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________She waved the wand and, immediately, the front window exploded. The wand was snatched from her as Ollivander waved his own wand and repaired the window. They continued like that for a while, going from wand to wand for what seemed like twenty minutes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Tricky customer.” Ollivander chuckled, before looking at the shelves and disappearing into the back. She looked at her godfather, who looked positively exhausted already, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing at the long-suffering look on his face. Ollivander came back with a wand that had silver accents on it, decorating the beautiful handle before offering it to her. She picked it up out of the box and waved it, watching as white sparks flew from the tip of it to swirl around her. The wand felt warm in her hand, it felt… right._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Alder, fourteen and a half inches. White River Monster spine core. This wand was sent to me by Thiago Quintana, it seems he was right to do so. It’s an excellent wand for nonverbal, forceful and elegant spells.” Ollivander intoned as she ran her hand over the wood. She looked up at the man and smiled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“How much?” She watched as Ollivander moved to pick out a dragon hide wrist holster for her before moving to the counter._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Fourteen galleons for the wand, the wrist holster is a gift from me to you, Miss Potter.” The man said, and she fished out one of her purses to pay the man before strapping the holster to her arm and slipping her new wand inside._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Thank you!” She called out as she dragged her godfather out of the store. The man was muttering something underneath his breath as she pulled him away and she grinned. Tormenting him would be fun. After all, what was family if you didn’t torment each other? Her mother’s diaries had described numerous pranks her father and his friends had pulled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“What was that?” She chirped cheerily as she looked back at her godfather. The man looked like he needed to take a nap._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“I said you don’t need the potions supplies, I have them for you.” She shrugged and nodded before looking around the Alley._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________From what she could see, there were two robe stores. One was painted in bright purple and she shuddered at the veritable amount of people pushing their way in and out. She shook her head and moved toward the second store, the sign above it reading _’Twilfitt & Tatting’s’ _. Walking into the unassuming but nicely decorated store, she was met by a man with a tape measure around his neck, presumably the tailor.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“Welcome to Twilfitt and Tatting’s, Miss, Sir. How may I help you?” The man smiled and she quickly began explaining her needs._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“I’m in need of an entirely new wardrobe as well as school robes for the upcoming school year.” She said matter-of-factly to the shop attendant and watched him blanche at her. Lyra waited quietly for the man to respond, her hands coming to rest in front of her, watching him glance at her and then at her godfather._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“An entirely new wardrobe, Miss? That is quite an expensive-,” she cut him off before he could finish with an indulgent smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“Sir, I assure you that I can afford it.” The tailor nodded nervously before calling into the back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“Marie!” A stout woman with a pincushion tied to her wrist moved into the front of the store. “Please take this young lady’s measurements.” He turned to her before she could be swept away. “Are there any styles you prefer?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“I’m not particular to anything. I trust your judgement to create pieces that suit me.” The man beamed at her words and she was swiftly taken into the back of the store with the Marie woman._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

* * *

_____________________Two hours and ten shopping bags shoved into her godfather’s arms later, they finally stepped out of the tailor shop. They were about to leave when she spotted _’The Magical Menagerie’ _. She barely caught the groan from her godfather as she all but flew into the next shop, the man trudging behind her.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________The shop smelled strongly of… animals. There were owls, kneazles, crups, anything you could think of. As she walked further into the store, she found herself wandering toward the back, she looked over the animals. She found a demiguise and more that she couldn’t even name before she came to a big cage. It was covered by a large canvas cloth, and before the clerk could stop her, she’d pulled the cloth off the cage._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________Inside was a huge, black wolf. It’s shoulders easily reached her godfather’s waist, and it’s fur gleamed in the dim light. She stared, and it stared back at her with eyes that were the same startling green as her own. She grinned and held her hand up to the bars, shooting Snape and the store clerk a deathly glare as they tried to stop her. She looked back as she felt a cool nose press against her skin, the beast’s breath puffing against her. She smiled softly at the wolf, and began to pat it’s nose as it pushed against her hand._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Is it male or female?” She asked the clerk, not taking her eyes off the wolf as the man answered that the wolf was male. She reached both hands into the cage and scratched the wolf’s cheeks as he closed his eyes happily._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Will you let him out?” The clerk almost fainted as her godfather started sputtering._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Miss, it’s a _direwolf _! He’s three times your size!” The clerk looked at her with wide eyes as the wolf stuck his snout through the bars and licked her cheek. She giggled and turned her face away to look at the shopkeep.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“How much?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________The clerk looked at her godfather, who just looked defeated as she went through the process of purchasing her new friend. As the wolf was let out, he quickly stretched and licked her cheek again before following her out of the shop._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Snape looked like he wanted to just keel over and die as he directed her to grab hold of his arm and the wolf offered her his paw to hold. She felt a pulling sensation in her navel before they were deposited on a street lined with brick homes. Shifting the bags, Snape moved to a house and unlocked the door, pushing it open as he moved inside with her close on his heels._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________The door shut behind them and her godfather tracked up the stairs and disappeared into a room near the top of the staircase before coming back down, arms free of bags. Silently, he guided her through the house and into what looked like a study, with its walls lined with bookshelves, a desk, a pair of armchairs and a large fireplace. She sat down in an armchair, the wolf coming to sit next to her. In comparison, she was a dwarf next to the large creature. Smiling at the thought, she reached up to scratch at the wolf’s ears as her godfather watched them warily. He finally sighed heavily and sat down in the second armchair._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“What are you going to name him?” She looked over at the direwolf and tilted her head, watching as he looked over to watch her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“Anubis.” She intoned, laughing softly as the wolf licked her cheek and laid down, curling around her chair. She smiled as Anubis covered her feet with his furry body, enjoying the warmth on her usually cold skin that poked out from the ballet flats. She looked up and arched a brow at her godfather, a silent gesture for him to start explaining his side of the story. The man sighed and she could practically feel his resignation._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“I am the Potions Professor at Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore is the Headmaster.” She nodded briefly, and saw him withdraw a wand, flicking it about. A glass of amber liquid floated to his hand a few moments later and he took a swig of what she assumed was alcohol. “After your mother died, I wasn’t… able to care for a child. All Albus would tell me is that he sent you to live with relatives. By the time I was actually able to care for you, all he’d tell me was that you were safe.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________She clenched her fist, shaking her head. This Albus Dumbledore had taken her away from her godfather. While she had everything she needed at the Dursley’s, she was never loved. She was neglected constantly, and she had to learn to take care of herself from a young age. It wasn’t a childhood she’d wish on anyone. It wasn’t a childhood at all. She looked up to find the man across from her staring forlornly at the floor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“I don’t blame you, Severus.” Her soft voice caused his head to shoot up. “Living with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon wasn’t an ideal place, I was neglected often. I was never given the love a child deserves and needs, but I suppose it could have been worse.” She took a breath, feeling Anubis shift to curl around her tighter. “I blame Dumbledore. He shouldn’t have placed me there. If it wasn’t for my mother’s books, I never would have known about this world before my Hogwarts letter.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“He took me away from my only living family. I won’t forgive that easily.” He opened his mouth like he was going to interrupt, but she held up a hand. She didn’t know this Albus Dumbledore, but she had a distinctly bad feeling in the pit of her stomach._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. Off To Beauxbatons

Living with Severus was easy. She woke up every morning and pushed Anubis off her, because the direwolf had declared himself her living blanket, and then she’d go downstairs and make her tea and Severus’ coffee before he decided to get up. He liked black coffee so strong her eyes watered when she tried to smell it as she made it. After watching him make it that first morning with dark circles around his eyes, she decided to just start making his coffee with her tea. She always had mint tea with three sugars and milk. Lyra was almost always up before her godfather, the man often staying up late into the night to either work or brew. 

When Severus came downstairs, they drank in silence while she passed him pieces of her usual baguette and strawberries with a sprinkling of sugar to make sure the man actually ate. Severus, she noticed, didn’t take very good care of himself. He was too skinny for her tastes and he had a habit of overworking himself. She didn’t know how many times in the month she’d been living with him she’d found him slumped over his desk, fast asleep. It was those times she was glad she was good at casting silently. She could levitate him into bed without a word. Sometimes he’d wake, and while he was still groggy, she carefully sung him back into sleep’s sweet embrace. Merlin knows the man needs all the sleep he can get.

Anubis almost always stuck to her side like glue. Except mornings. The big fuzzy baby hated mornings and being woken up. If you tried, he’d just glare at you through one open eye and then bury his head under a pillow. It was amusing, as well as teaching him how to go up and down stairs. She’d had to coddle him and walk him up and down for two weeks until he got the hang of it or else he’d whine at the top or bottom of the stairs. It was endearing, she thought. Severus thought it was ridiculous. 

She spent her days combing through her godfather’s library and study, reading anything she found interesting. She read through books on Ancient Runes, Defense Magic, Dark Magic, Healing Spells, anything she could find. It was a nice way to spend the days before school started.

Severus had gone back to Diagon to pick up a trunk for her, and she packed all her clothes, books, and supplies into the spacious thing, leaving her mother’s diaries on the bookshelf in the room she’d stolen from Severus. It was small, but cozy, and she truly couldn’t ask for anything else. It was their quaint home at Spinner’s End, and she wouldn’t change it for anything. 

Today she’d board the Hogwarts Express for the first time. Pushing Anubis off of her chest, she got up and moved toward the set of school robes she’d laid out the night before. Black tights, a grey skirt, white shirt, grey sweater and black tie later, she slipped her feet into the black patent leather ballet flats she’d bought. Draping her robe over her arm she nudged Anubis to try and wake him. 

“Anubis, we don’t have all day. We have to leave soon.” It was nearly nine and she wanted to get there early to find a compartment for herself and her direwolf. Anubis groaned lowly but got up to stretch, and she turned to brush through her long hair. Satisfied with the smooth appearance of her raven hair, she exited her bedroom with Anubis behind her. Trailing down the stairs and into the kitchen, she quickly made her tea and Severus’ coffee before pulling out some bacon to fry up for Anubis. 

Setting the coffee on the table, she went through the motions of frying up a good pound of bacon. Setting the greasy strips in front of Anubis, she watched as he scarfed the bacon down easily as Severus walked into the kitchen. 

“Morning, Sev.” She spoke softly as she went to sit next to the man as he took a long drag of his coffee. She’d finished her own tea as she made Anubis breakfast, and as she glanced at the clock, she got up to press a croissant into her godfather’s hands. Pulling on her black robe, she flicked her hair out onto her back as she sent a quick scourgify to the plate Anubis had eaten off of. Once the dish was safely in the sink, she waved goodbye to Severus and led Anubis to the floo in the study. 

“King’s Cross Station!” She called as she threw a handful of floo powder in, pushing Anubis through before following herself. 

The station wasn’t overly crowded as no one truly wanted to wait for an hour and a half for the train to pull out. Lyra suspected that the majority of students and their parents would arrive in the next hour or so, and she was glad she’d gotten there early. Stepping into the train, she led Anubis to the back, picking the very last compartment. Removing her trunk from her robes, she placed it overhead and resized it before sitting down, Anubis hopping up onto the seat to lay his head in her lap.

* * *

She was idly stroking Anubis’ head when the door to her compartment was opened, revealing two shockingly tall, terribly similar redheads. She looked up at them with a quirked brow as they moved into the compartment, taking seats across from her with twin grins. Each redhead bowed their heads respectfully to her and she took time to notice their green ties. Slytherins, she recognized.

“Greetings, Miss. I hope we’re not intruding,” one twin began.

“But all the other compartments were full.” The other finished, and she smiled politely. 

“Not at all. My name is Lyra Potter.” She offered her ringed hand to the twin on the right, watching as it was clasped and the air above it kissed traditionally before moving it to the other twin. “And you are?”

“Fred and George Weasley, Miss Potter. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The twin on the left, Fred, gestured to himself and then to George. She nodded, quickly noting the freckle on George’s right ear. It’d be easier to tell them apart with an indicator. 

“The pleasure is mine, Mr. and Mr. Weasley.” Anubis shifted, lifting his head up to eye the two boys. He gave a low bark and she laughed, scratching behind his ears. “And this is Anubis.” She pats the direwolf’s head fondly as he lays his head back across her lap. She saw their grins grow as they looked at the massive animal sprawled across her lap. 

“Nice to meet you too, Anubis.” They chirped together and she giggled as the wolf just blew air through his nose. 

“Fun friend you got there.” George intoned as she went back to stroking Anubis’ head. 

“My godfather wanted to pass out when I bought him.” She snickered, the twins chuckling. 

Their laughter didn’t last long as they heard shouting coming from outside the compartment. Anubis perked up immediately, looking ready to pounce if anything so much as looked at her the wrong way. Fred got up, opening the door to the compartment and sticking his head out while George just winced as they were met with more shouts. 

“-slimy snake! Get out of my bloody way!” Came an irate voice just down the hallway. She winced as Anubis immediately jumped down and got to his feet. She sighed, getting up herself as she passed by Fred with a polite ’Excuse me.’ and walked into the hall with Anubis. There, she saw an enraged ginger whose face was almost the same color as his hair. Looking back at the two twins who followed the direwolf, she saw them beginning to look horrified. 

A blonde was standing in front of her with his back turned, in the way of the ginger. The boy’s hands were behind his back and she could just tell he was goading the other boy. She cleared her throat, trying to get their attention. Lyra wasn’t heard over the ginger’s irritating screaming. Tapping her foot against the floor, she felt Anubis place his chin on her shoulder and growl loudly. Watching as the blonde spun around with a terrified expression and she fought to keep her blank mask.

“Excuse me, is there a good reason for your prattling screams that interrupt a civilized conversation or are you two just ignoring the norms of polite society?” She spoke softly, her green eyes flickering between the two boys. The blonde was the first to recover, bowing politely with a somewhat abashed look on his face. 

“My apologies, Miss. I assure you, it won’t happen again. My name is Draco Malfoy.” The boy smiled politely, and she offered him her jeweled hand, of which he kissed the air above. 

“Lyra Potter. A pleasure-,” she intoned softly before she was interrupted by the ginger.

“Potter?! Lyra Potter?! Your parents died in the war! You’re one of the only two children to survive a direct confrontation with-,” she cut him off with a sharp look. 

“Yes, I am aware of my parents’ deaths, thank you very much.” The ginger looked flabbergasted as she turned back to Malfoy. “Mr. Malfoy, would you care to join me and my new acquaintances?” She gestured behind her to the Weasley twins as Anubis yawned and meandered back to the compartment. Malfoy grinned and began to follow her as the ginger called out again.

“W-wait! Lyra! You can’t go with him! He’s a snake!” The ginger exclaimed in anger and surprise. She rounded on him quick enough, fire burning in her bright green eyes. 

“I have not given you permission to address me so informally, do not take liberties with me.” She watched him try to find words but she turned and flipped her hair over her shoulder, walking back into the compartment to sit down next to Anubis, who was on the floor this time. She’d taken the seat closest to the window, and as Malfoy sat down next to her, she attempted to rein in her anger and indignation. With a polite smile, she gestured toward the twins sitting across from them. 

“Fred, George, this is Draco Malfoy. Malfoy, Fred and George Weasley.” She pretended not to notice the way Malfoy stiffened at the name Weasley. 

“Ah, I believe I’ve become acquainted with your younger brother.” Malfoy said tersely. 

“Our apologies, Heir Malfoy.” Fred intoned as both he and his brother dipped their heads. 

“We have long since distanced ourselves from the House of Weasley, after they made their opinions known after our sorting.” George continued as Malfoy nodded, seeming at a loss for words as George turned to her. “We must also apologize to you, Miss Potter.”

“We should have trained him better.” Fred added on. She offered a gentle smile to the pair as Anubis laid his head on her lap again. 

“The Houses Potter, Black and Peverell accept your apology. Think of it no more. You are not your family.” She responded politely as Malfoy whipped his head to stare at her with wide eyes. He cleared his throat to gain her attention before beginning to speak.

“Potter, Black and Peverell, Miss? You belong to these three houses?” She smirked and held up her ringed hand.

“Not just belong to them, I am the Lady of House Potter, House Black and House Peverell.” She paused, furrowing her brow. “Heir to House Prince as well, if my godfather is to be convinced to allow me the heirship.”

The three boys in her compartment gaped at her. She just allowed a chuckle to escape her lips as she went back to stroking Anubis’ head.

* * *

She and Malfoy had split from the twins as they departed the train, the twins moving off as they moved to a strikingly tall man shouting for the first years. They were led to small boats, and she watched Malfoy climb into one before offering her his hand, which she gratefully accepted. With the boy’s hand to steady herself, she stepped into the boat and sat down gracefully before folding her hands in her lap. She was about to draw her companion into a conversation when she saw the younger Weasley dragging a darker haired boy to their boat. They clambered in and she watched Malfoy grimace out of the corner of her eye before turning to the brunette, completely ignoring Weasley. 

“Heir Longbottom.” Malfoy drawled elegantly and she watched as the other boy flinched. 

“H-Heir Malfoy.” The boy stuttered. 

“May I introduce the Lady Potter Black Peverell,” Malfoy gestured toward her lazily with a graceful nod of the head. She watched a small grin grow on his face as the other boy looked at her with wide eyes. She held her right hand out to the boy with delicate movements. 

“Heir Longbottom.” The boy shakily took her hand and kissed the air above it. 

“Lady P-Potter Black P-Peverell,” The boy stammered out, and she felt a flash of pity as she withdrew her hand and placed it back in her lap. 

The rest of the ride was silent as she looked out across the water, viewing the castle as it came into view. It was a magnificent sight, and she waited as all the boys departed the boat before taking Malfoy’s offered hand and stepping onto solid ground herself. They were ushered up to a great door, Malfoy offering her his arm which she accepted as she struggled over the twisting steps. Why a school entrance for eleven year olds needed so many steps, she’d never know. Some were slippery, some were broken and jagged, she just didn’t understand why no one paid more attention to the stairs when they knew children were going to use them. 

The door shuttered open to reveal a severe looking woman in a green robe and a tall black hat. She quickly ushered them inside and toward another pair of double doors where they were quickly given a speech and told to make themselves presentable. As they were about to enter the hall, her hand slipped from the crook of Malfoy’s elbow and she promptly held them in front of herself with a grateful smile to her blonde companion.

As Malfoy responded with a smile of his own, the doors in front of them creaked open and the group of first years flooded into the hall and down the center aisle after Professor McGonagall. From what she could see, there were four long tables full of students, supposedly for the four houses, before the head table that held the professors and her godfather. 

“Before the sorting begins, Professor Dumbledore will say a few words.” McGonagall uttered in a thick Scottish brogue as she climbed the steps that led up to the platform holding the head table. A man sitting on a gold throne at the middle of the table stood up and stared out at the crowd of students with twinkling eyes and a grandfatherly smile. 

“Welcome first years, welcome back everyone else. I would like to say a few words, and those words are: Nitwig, Flobber, Karp, Tweak!” She stared at the ancient looking man, trying not to furrow her brow while she wondered if he had gone senile. “The Forbidden Forest is just that. Forbidden. Classes shall start tomorrow promptly at eight o’clock like usual and finally, I shall deign to hope that Hogwarts will become a home to you all as you return here throughout the years.” The old man sat down, and she could feel his twinkling gaze on her. She refused to meet his eyes as the sorting began and an old three legged stool was brought out along with a ratty looking hat. 

To her surprise, the hat began to sing what she guessed was the school song before students began to be sorted. It went on like that for a while, Weasley and Longbottom getting into Gryffindor and Malfoy getting into Slytherin, until her name was called. 

“Lyra Potter!” 

She could feel the tense gazes on her just like they’d been on the Longbottom boy as she climbed the steps easily and took a seat on the stool. The hat was lowered onto her head as she stared impassively out at the hall, trying not to shudder as she felt it comb through her mind. 

"Well, well, Miss Potter." A hoarse voice sounded in her mind. “It seems you have a great future ahead of you. Your path shan’t be easy, but where to put you? Somewhere you can thrive, somewhere you will make true alliances and friends.” The hat whispered.

'You know best, Mr. Hat.' 

Her voice sounded indifferent in her mind, and truly, she was indifferent. If this hat had been enchanted to sort her where she belonged, then she had no problems with letting the hat decide where to put her. 

“Mister, eh?” The hat chuckled and it made her skin crawl. “It can only be one house, and it is-" 

_________“SLYTHERIN!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________The hat slipped out of her mind to shout the house it had chosen and as the fabric was lifted from her head she made her way to the table on the leftmost side of the hall, taking a seat next to Malfoy. They watched the rest of the sorting in silence, four other boys and two girls joining them. As the sorting finished with a girl going to Hufflepuff, platters of food appeared on the table before them, and she waited for everyone else to fill their plates before she chose a simple beef stew with carrots, potatoes and peas. She added a scoop of cranberry to the side of her plate simply because she couldn’t resist it and began to eat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________“Blaise, Theo, Vincent, Greg, Pansy, Daphne,” Malfoy began, gesturing to her as she put down her spoon. “This is Lyra Potter. Potter, these are Blaise Zabini,” he gestured toward a dark skinned boy. “Theodore Nott,” Malfoy’s hand moved to the boy sitting next to Zabini. “Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle,” he guided her gaze to the two boys sitting next to Nott respectively. “Pansy Parkinson,” he moved on to the pug-faced girl with black hair. “And Daphne Greengrass.” He moved to the blonde girl sitting next to Parkinson. She gave a respectful nod to each of them as Malfoy went along._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________“Please, call me Lyra.” She smiled genially, bright green eyes darting through the group as each person, Malfoy through Greengrass, responded in kind, telling her to use their first names._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________The feast soon concluded and they were led away to the dungeons by a Prefect. After being ushered into the common room and told the password, Snape came into the room with a sweep of his bat like robes. Most of the first years startled, but she was long since used to her godfather’s antics._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________“You have been sorted into the great house of Salazar Slytherin.” The potions master drawled. “Three quarters of the school’s population now despises you because of your house in a foolish attempt to gain self importance. You will not give the other students any ammunition against us. Do not get caught. House conflicts are to be solved within the house. Show a united front. Do not disappoint Slytherin.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________With that, her godfather swept away and they were ushered to their dorms by Prefects. Opening the door, she found a single bed in her room, and she smiled, glad she didn’t have to share with anyone. Looking over, she found Anubis already half asleep on the bed as she shook her head fondly at the wolf. Looking around further, she found a small piano and a harp, much to her delight. She couldn’t wait to learn to play them. Windows showing the Black Lake gleamed on the far wall and a door that supposedly led to a bathroom was on the opposite wall to the door that led out into the hall._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________It was a quaint room, with a small fireplace a ways away from the bed. In front sat two armchairs and a loveseat, all in tasteful Slytherin green._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________Changing into a nightgown quickly, she opened her trunk and pulled out a book on Mind Magic to read before bed. She’d stolen it from Severus’ study before she left Spinner’s End, and was already halfway through. All things considered, she hoped it would be a quiet year._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

* * *

_________It most certainly was _not _a quiet year.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Dumbledore just wouldn’t leave her alone, and Severus couldn’t do anything about it because Dumbledore was the headmaster. He’d taken an almost creepy interest in her, in her home life, in what she found interesting, and her views on the Wizarding World. Once more, she was in his office, glad she’d taken the time to learn Occlumency because she repeatedly felt the old man try to slip his way past her walls without her noticing. After the first meeting, she almost obsessively strengthened her walls. She didn’t want Dumbledore in her head._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Ah, Lyra, my dear girl-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Headmaster, I’ve told you before not to address me so informally. I have not given you permission nor am I acquainted with you enough for you to call me such. If this continues, I will be bringing it up to the Board of Governors.” She intoned politely, trying to keep from grinding her teeth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________The old man had been disrespecting her every chance he could get and she loathed it. She got more respect from the eleven year old friends she kept than the ancient wizard in front of her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Now now, Lyra. I doubt your parents would have approved of such harshness-,” she reeled in the urge to punch him right in between his twinkly eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Headmaster, my parents are dead and gone. They cannot judge me nor would I care about such judgement. I never met them. I have never visited their graves, and I don’t intend to. The dead are just that, dead. You should let them be so.” She seethed, her hands clenching in her lap even as she looked like the perfect picture of control. “I will be submitting a formal complaint to the Board of Governors. Good day, Headmaster.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________She got up just in time to see the flash of anger in the old man’s eyes as she made her way from his office at a calm pace. She had a damned letter to write._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________It had been going on all year and now that the end of term feast was upon them, she was finally at her breaking point. No one stopped her as she glided through the common room, Pansy and Daphne on her heels at once as she flung the door to her room open and fled to her piano. The two girls had obviously sensed her mood as they sat near the fireplace as she began to play, dark and heavy._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________With each note, she slowly released her emotions into the air like the old man had never angered her. As her notes got softer and lighter, she allowed herself to breathe deeper than she had been, calming herself further. Music always helped relax her, and at times like these she was grateful for it. She barely noticed Pansy and Daphne getting up and exiting the room as another person sat down. With a shaky breath, she played the final note, letting it echo in the room before she looked toward her visitor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Her godfather had taken a seat on one of the armchairs, and she made her way over to join him, Anubis moving to curl at her feet. They were silent for some time before she finally turned to Severus._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“He keeps trying to get in my head. He keeps pushing me, Sev. What do I do?” She said tiredly, rubbing a temple with gentle fingers. She’d felt the beginnings of a migraine ever since Dumbledore had asked to meet with her. She just wanted a peaceful school life. Was that so much to ask for?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“I’ll do what I can.” Severus responded quietly, and she nodded briefly before dropping her head against the back of the chair. They were silent for a time before her godfather finally spoke up again. “Perhaps you’d want to transfer to Beauxbatons? It may be easier for you there.” She perked up immediately, looking to Severus with a small smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Can I really, Sev?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Of course.” The man snorted at her question, as if it were absurd. “I’ll see to it.” Her smile brightened and she immediately flung herself at her godfather to hug the man._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________“Thank you!” She felt him kiss the top of her head and pat her back as she pulled away, even if he’d deny it later. She couldn’t help the feeling of relief that washed over her. She’d be able to get away from Dumbledore and hopefully have a normal school experience without the stress the Headmaster of Hogwarts had imposed upon her mind._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

* * *

___________Lyra packed her trunk once again up in her room at Spinner’s End, Anubis dozing lightly on her bed. She delicately tucked the light blue school robes into the trunk before snapping the lid closed. With a sigh and a gentle smile, she prodded Anubis and together they moved down the stairs at a quick pace to get to the floo._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Severus waited for her in the study, and after a quick hug, she and Anubis were sent through the floo to Beauxbatons._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	3. The TriWizard Tournament

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Language Key:
> 
> "+...+" = French
> 
> "-...-" = Draconic Language
> 
> The version of 'Ave Maria' I imagine Lyra singing:
> 
> https://soundcloud.com/deep-records/charles-gounod-ave-maria

Please note that “+...+” means that the character is speaking French. AO3’s formatting does not like me whenever I try to use italics, so please pay attention to the symbols at the beginning of dialogue for they represent language. From here on out, all chapters of The Tale of Lyra Potter will have a language key in notes for ease of reading. No symbols means English. Thank you!

* * *

A young woman of seventeen clad in a blue uniform with a hat tilted atop her head strode through the halls of Beauxbatons. Her long, raven hair was pulled into a tight braid that flowed down her back. Her emerald eyes passed over the various students and staff she saw, nodding to the professors and those she was acquainted with. Finally reaching her destination, she knocked twice in quick succession upon the wooden door before being bade entry. 

She stepped into the office of Beauxbatons’ headmistress, Madame Maxime. Taking the seat she was offered across from the tall woman, they began their conversation in perfect French. 

“+Miss Potter, I’m sure Professor Dupont has discussed the Triwizard Tournament in his class, yes?+” The stern woman began as the raven haired beauty nodded her head. 

“+Yes, Madame, he has. But the tournament hasn’t been held in two hundred years.+” Lyra continued, puzzled, before it dawned on her. “+It’s being held again?+”

“+Yes. It’s return was instigated by the British wizarding government and the International Confederation of Wizards.+” The giantess spoke with a grave tone. “+It’s been decided that Beauxbatons will compete as one of the three schools.+” 

“+I still fail to see what this has to do with me, Madame.+” Lyra’s brow furrowed.

“+You are top of your classes, in everything. You’ve already mastered everything Beauxbatons has to offer you and you took your NEWTS this summer.+” The woman looked down at her student with gentle eyes. “+You are the only one qualified to compete as champion of Beauxbatons.+” 

The girl sat back in her chair, dropping her gaze. She didn’t want to compete in something potentially life threatening and she definitely didn’t want Sev on her case because she was competing, but what choice did she have? No one else at the school was even close to her level, and if her skills were needed to survive the tournament, she couldn’t put those who had become like her family in jeopardy. Looking up at her Headmistress, she nodded solemnly. 

“+I will make Beauxbatons proud.+” She intoned to the woman. 

She and the Headmistress had always had a special relationship. The woman had often taken her into her office to teach her things the other professors could not. They spent quite a lot of time together, often getting together to have tea and just talk about nothing in particular. She loved Maxime dearly, and if she thought this was the only way, then she’d do it. 

And she’d win. For Beauxbatons.

“+Before I go, Madame, where is it being held?+” She saw the giantess wince in sympathy before taking one of her hands in her much larger ones.

“+It will be held at Hogwarts, Lyra.+”

* * *

Severus had been irate when she’d told him, but he truly didn’t seem all that surprised. He just called her a hellion as he always did before telling her to remember to eat, snorting at her snipe that he was the one who forgot to eat and bidding her goodbye and dousing the floocall.

A custom uniform had been made for her in a pastel green to match her eyes and Fleur sat behind her, brushing her hair out in her quarters before braiding some strands together across the back of her head and tying the main part of her hair together with the braid with a green ribbon at the small of her back. They were about an hour out from Hogwarts and she was glad for Fleur’s company. She and the Veela had been inseparable ever since Lyra transferred in her second year. 

Arranging her lordship rings on her right hand, she picked up the necklace lying on her dresser. It was a round emerald set in silver with diamonds around it. She’d ordered it along with an earcuff also set in silver with diamonds. She’d spent the entirety of her sixth year charming both pieces of jewelry to act as portkeys. One side would act as the anchor and the other as the portkey, along with allowing the two parties to hear each other speaking when the main emeralds on the pieces were pressed and held. 

Draping the necklace on her neck, she tucked it into her robes before picking up the earcuff as Fleur put her hat into place. Moving to where Anubis was laying on the floor with Hedwig, the owl Severus had purchased her, perched on top of him. She slipped the earcuff onto his ear, watching as it resized to fit him. 

Each piece of jewelry had been keyed to her and Anubis respectively, and truthfully, their main function was to keep Anubis with her at all times. She and the wolf had become even more inseparable than she and Fleur. Anubis had grown as she did, and his head could still plonk down on her shoulder even if she only stood about up to his shoulders. 

Anubis barely even registered the piece of jewelry, long since used to having it on. It brought her peace of mind when they had to be apart or when they were going someplace dangerous. And, truly, she didn’t know if Hogwarts was safe or not. Twinkling blue eyes still made appearances in her dreams at times, and she woke up gasping only to be promptly smothered by her living security blanket. 

“+It’s time, Lyr.+” Fleur spoke, and she promptly took her friend’s hand as she nudged Anubis. He grumbled but got up, disturbing Hedwig who hooted and flew to her perch, before following the two girls out of the room and into the main space of the carriage. Madame Maxime was there, as well as the rest of the students, and she nodded promptly as the two joined them before leading them out into the chilly air. Hastening into the school, they were approached by a man who she briefly remembered to be the caretaker, Filch, before he rushed into the hall. 

She and the other girls promptly took their positions with her at the front and the others in two lines, with Anubis and Madame Maxime behind her. As Filch appeared again and opened the doors for them, she marched forward, leading her classmates into the hall with a proud expression on her face. As they got a quarter way down the hall, she spread her arms and wandlessly conjured blue carnations in the air to float down onto the students of Hogwarts. Continuing her march, once they were halfway down the aisle, Fleur and another girl came up behind her and launched her up into the air as she flipped.

Spotting Anubis underneath her, she quickly cast a wandless cushioning charm on both herself and her fuzzy friend. Landing on the wolf’s shoulders with her hands, she quickly moved to sit side saddle on Anubis’ back as they continued marching. Opening her arms again, she conjured blue butterflies to mix with the falling flowers as they reached the head table. The two lines converged and switched sides behind her as Anubis turned lazily. 

The girls of Beauxbatons bowed with Anubis as he dipped his head, and she dipped hers, Madame Maxime moving to greet Dumbledore as she and the other girls moved aside. 

The hall erupted into applause as Dumbledore kissed Madame’s hand before he raised his hands and started to quiet them down.

“And now, help me in welcoming our guests from the north! The Sons of Durmstrang and their headmaster, Igor Karkaroff!” Dumbledore exclaimed to the hall, and the doors burst open once more to young men slamming staffs onto the floor, creating sparks. She watched idly from her spot atop Anubis as they approached the head table before blowing fire into the shape of a dragon as Karkaroff moved to embrace Dumbledore. 

“Welcome guests! Tomorrow, the goblet of fire shall accept names from the of age students! For now, feast and be merry! Welcome to Hogwarts!” Dumbledore exclaimed as the students of Hogwarts cheered again. Rolling her eyes, she motioned for Fleur to follow her as Anubis let her down and the two followed her over to Slytherin table as she spotted a shock of platinum blonde hair. Moving over to stand behind Pansy, Daphne, and Blaise, she cleared her throat as her old friends turned to look up at her. Pansy and Daphne immediately cried out and drew her into hugs as the boys smiled brightly. She and Fleur sat down, with her at the end of the table so she could feed Anubis.

“My friends, this is Fleur Delacour. Fleur, they can introduce themselves, I won’t do it for them.” She stated primly, drawing barks of laughter from Vincent and Greg as she picked up a rather large steak and offered it to her direwolf. He scarfed it down as Fleur was introduced to everyone, and he quickly laid down now that his immediate hunger was sated.

“I don’t understand, Lyra. Why is your uniform green?” Draco asked, tilting his head much like Anubis did when he was curious. 

“I’ve been chosen as the champion of Beauxbatons by Madame Maxime because of my skill set and because I’ve already taken the NEWTS.” She intoned as they all turned to gape at her.

“But the goblet?” Daphne spoke softly. 

“I’ll be the only one from Beauxbatons to put my name in.” She said softly as she stroked Anubis’ head, which had shifted into her lap. “If I can prevent an innocent from getting hurt, I will.” She felt Fleur put a hand on her arm, and she looked up to smile at her friend. “I will win. For Beauxbatons. For my family.”

* * *

She and her classmates marched into the hall much like they did the night before, with Lyra in front and two lines flanking her. As they stepped up to the Goblet of Fire, students of Hogwarts and Durmstrang moved away from where they were crowding around the age line. As she stood in front of the blue line, she took a deep breath before stepping inside and reaching up to drop the slip of paper with her name on it. The fire flared before she stepped back out of the circle and turned around. She found the students of Beauxbatons kneeling along the path out of the hall, one knee on the floor.

“We stand with you, Champion of Beauxbatons!” They shouted out in English, and she drew in a shuddering breath and smiled tightly as she began to walk along the line, fully aware of all the eyes on her. She strode out confidently, trying to ignore the whispers that broke out as she and the rest of the Beauxbatons girls left. Glancing at Fleur behind her, she nodded at her friend before making her way down into the dungeons. 

She moved almost automatically to the place where she knew Severus’ quarters to be, asking the portrait to let her in. Surprisingly, she was let in without another glance and she gratefully flumped down onto the sofa nearest her. She didn’t even notice Sev had come in until he floated tea at her, which she gratefully accepted. Sev was just in his shirtsleeves when he sat down across from her in an armchair as they both sipped tea. 

“What am I going to do, Sev?” She sighed, bringing a hand up to rub at her forehead. 

“What you always do.” She looked up at her godfather who just smirked at her in response. 

“Excell.”

* * *

“Today, the Goblet chooses our champions of the three schools!” Dumbledore exclaimed once everyone had taken their seats. She was sitting in between Draco and Blaise, her hands clutched in theirs. “May fortune smile upon you!” The old man moved toward the goblet before calling out again. “The Champion of Hogwarts is-”

He waited as the goblet’s fire turned red and spat out a piece of paper. The old man snatched it out of the air and unfolded it to read it before announcing the name to the hall. 

“Ron Weasley!” Dumbledore shouted, and the tables erupted into applause, Gryffindor loudest most of all as the redhead moved up to stand on the dais with a pleased look on his face as Dumbledore began to speak again. “The Champion for Durmstrang is-”

The goblet’s fire turned red again and the slip of paper was once again caught by Hogwarts’ headmaster. 

“Andri Osipova!” The hall erupted into even louder applause as Osipova moved to stand beside Weasley. He was said to be the second best quidditch player since Krum. There were shouts and catcalls as the Bulgarian moved next to the redhead stoically, and she watched as Weasley looked up at Osipova with barely hidden hero worship. Dumbledore raised his hands to silence the hall once again. “And the Champion for Beauxbatons is-”

The goblet spit out yet another slip of paper, which the old man unfolded to read. 

“Lyra Potter!” She got up from her seat at the Slytherin table, Anubis on her heels as she marched smartly down toward the dais. Not glancing at Dumbledore for a second, she took her spot next to Osipova as Anubis sat down to rest his head on her shoulder. 

“I give you, the Champions of the Triwizard Tournament!” The hall fell into more applause as Dumbledore gestured toward them with a flourish of his hand. She idly reached up to scratch Anubis’ chin as the hall devolved into senseless shouting. She, Osipova and Weasley were all ushered into a room off of the hall, the teachers following shortly. She took up her position next to Madame Maxime and smiled slightly as Severus came over to stand with them. When Dumbledore entered the room, he looked quizzically at Severus.

“Severus, my boy! Won’t you come congratulate Mr. Weasley?” Severus looked at her and she just smirked at him. She saw a twitch of his lips before turning back to Dumbledore. 

“Weasley or my goddaughter, what a difficult choice.” Severus drawled, and she watched the color drain from Dumbledore’s face. “I do think under the circumstances, I’ll be staying where I am, Headmaster.”

Dumbledore looked about ready to murder someone as she stood up on her toes and pressed a sweet kiss to her godfather’s sallow cheek. She couldn’t help the glee flowing through her as rage flashed in the old bastard’s eyes.

She and Severus had done a wonderful job altering the memories of the Dursley’s to show her running away instead of leaving in the calm manner she had. Sev had been particularly proud of her when she’d come up with that idea. Neither of them wanted the twinkly bastard in their business any more than he had to be, and so Sev had agreed to lie and say that he had no contact with her outside of their very brief stint as professor and student.

Now that she looked back on it, it was kind of embarrassing that Dumbledore hadn’t even noticed it was a ruse. She was brought back to herself by Weasley gagging.

“Him?! Your godfather?! No wonder you were sorted into Slytherin, he corrupted you with his dark magic! He’s a slimy bastard! A no good Death Eater scumbag!” Weasley shouted in outrage and she had her wand in hand quicker than you could say ‘murder spree’. She advanced on the now quaking boy with a growling direwolf over her shoulder as she stuck her wand under his chin. 

“Listen to me carefully, Weasley. Insult my godfather again, and I will declare a blood feud on your family. I will duel you until you are begging me to end your pitiful existence and after I do, I will make sure your parents and your siblings are never accepted in society again. Save Fred and George, because I like them.” She smiled cruelly at the boy, her eyes flashing. “Am I clear?” 

She watched as he nodded frantically before moving back to her godfather and Madame Maxime with slow strides, tucking her wand back into her sleeve. 

“Now now, Miss Potter. I’m sure that such empty threats aren’t necessary given-,” she rounded on Dumbledore almost instantly, her eyes promising danger. 

“As Lady of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Peverell, I expect respect for all of my family members. With Severus being my blood adopted father and my godfather, he is entitled to that respect. I will not stand for my houses or their members to be disrespected in such a blatant fashion. Weasley is lucky I gave him some advice instead of actually taking action.” She smiled sweetly at Dumbledore, fire in her eyes. “I shall remember your obvious lack of decorum and shameless favoritism toward certain students. If I find you treating Severus untowardly, I will have your head and your career for it faster than you can contest it. Dare call my threats empty again, and it will be the last thing you do.” Without another word, she turned and moved back to her godfather and headmistress, still seething internally. 

She felt Severus place a soft hand on her back, probably to make sure she didn’t murder anyone. Lyra was at the point where she just might decide she doesn’t care anymore, and the world would rue the day when she finally snapped. 

She was happy in France. Why did a stupid tournament have to drag her out sooner than she had to leave? She had to go back to England for the summers and holidays, but it wasn’t the same as living here full time. She wanted at least one more peaceful year before it all went to hell and she had to claim her seats on the Wizengamot. And now Weasley was insulting her godfather. And Dumbledore was trying to defend him instead of a member of his staff. 

She was livid.

The first task was explained as being ‘a test of their daring’ and Lyra fought to roll her eyes. They were told they were to be interviewed by Rita Skeeter for the Daily Prophet and that Garrick Ollivander would come to check their wands before the first task. 

She couldn’t wait to get out of that room, away from Dumbledore and his redheaded git. 

They had about a month before the first task, and all she could think about was if she was going to die or not. How were they supposed to prepare for something they weren’t told about? She didn’t understand why Dumbledore wanted to keep meddling in her life. What was so important about her that she couldn’t lead a normal, anxiety free life?

* * *

She was called out of Potions for the Weighing of the Wands by a small boy with a camera. She folded her hands behind her back as she was ushered into a room containing Dumbledore, Karkaroff and Madame Maxime along with Ollivander and two other men she didn’t recognize. Weasley and Osipova were there as well, and she moved to stand next to the Bulgarian as the twinkly bastard turned his smile on them. 

“My dear champions, Mr. Ollivander is here to check your wands before the first task, and after that you shall be interviewed by Miss Skeeter from the Daily Prophet.” Dumbledore gestured toward the two unfamiliar men beside him. “Please allow me to introduce Lucius Malfoy and Bartemius Crouch Jr. They are the men responsible for the coordination of the tournament on Britain’s end.” 

She reluctantly nodded to the two men with an indifferent stare as Weasley was ushered to sit in front of Ollivander and made to hand over his wand. The man peered at the wand before turning to it’s redheaded owner. 

“Willow, fourteen inches. Unicorn hair core. A wand for an insecure or weak witch or wizard.” He continued as Weasley grew red with anger. “Melancholy. Seriously mishandled, I’d say. The unicorn hair is half dead.” The man handed the wand back to the boy with a serious face. “I suggest taking better care of your wand, Mr. Weasley.” 

The ginger took off from the seat as Osipova moved to sit down, offering his wand to the old wandmaker. The man hummed and looked over the wand before flicking it through the air. Yellow and orange sparks flicked through the air around the two.

“Spruce, fifteen inches. Dragon heartstring core. A powerful wand, but unpredictable in uncertain hands. Nicely taken care of. Unusually attached to its owner for a wand with Dragon heartstring as its core.” 

Ollivander handed it back to Osipova who nodded and moved back to stand next to her. She took a seat on the chair next and handed over her wand to the man. He stared at her wand a bit before finally speaking. 

“Alder, fourteen and a half inches.” He bummed quietly. “Yes, I remember this wand. The only wand I have ever sold that was not made by myself. White River Monster spine core. Perfect for wordless, forceful, and elegant spells.” He waved the wand in the air. Nothing happened. The old man frowned before pulling a single orange feather from his pocket and spelling it into her wand and giving it another wave. 

This time, white carnations flowered in the air, moving to weave themselves into her hair in a crown as her hat was lifted from her head and into her lap. The tight bun her hair had been in fell down to the nape of her neck as it untwisted itself, more carnations moving to weave themselves into the hair. She could feel strands of hair being braided around the flowers, keeping them in place. In the end, she was left with a crown of white carnations atop her head with a braid leading down the back of her head along with the rest of her hair. More carnations had woven themselves into the braid, the rest of her hair left loose to flow around her attractively. Ollivander smiled gently at her and held out her wand. She took the smooth wood into hand reverently as the man spoke. 

“An addition to the core of your wand. A Phoenix feather woven with the White River Monster spine. The only wand of its kind. The new addition to its core signifies a coming change in it’s owner’s life. Be prepared, Lady Potter Black Peverell. You will do great things with this wand. Terrifyingly great things.” The man smiled gently at her as she nodded and shrunk her hat to place in her pocket, loathe to disrupt the hairstyle her own wand had crafted for her.

“Thank you.” She smiled genuinely at the man, tucking her wand back into her sleeve as she moved to stand beside Osipova once more. 

Rita Skeeter burst into the room then with a photographer and Quick Notes quill at the ready. Her platinum blonde hair and insect green suit did nothing to distract from her sharklike smile as she advanced into the room.

“Ah, Ms. Skeeter.” Dumbledore said. “We shall leave you and the champions to chat.” The old bastard strode from the room, leading the adults out as Madame Maxime turned to look at her, worried. She nodded toward her headmistress before taking a seat on one of the three chairs Skeeter had just transfigured. Osipova sat to her right and Weasley sat to his right as Skeeter began asking questions. 

“I am here with the Champions of the Triwizard Tournament, Andri Osipova of Durmstrang, Lyra Potter of Beauxbatons, and Ronald Weasley of Hogwarts. Here to find out the truth about the Triwizard Tournament and our Champions.” Skeeter ranted and Lyra fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Tell me, young champions, how did it feel to be chosen?” Her eyes gestured for Ron to go first. 

“Well, it was a surprise for Hogwarts, but not for me. I knew from the minute the tournament was announced that I’d be Hogwarts’ champion.” The ginger git said cockily as Skeeter turned her head to look at Osipova, who began to speak in a thick accent.

“It vas not a close call. Many of my peers entered, but I am grateful to be able to show them my skills.” Osipova finished as Skeeter turned to her. 

“And how about you, Miss Potter?” 

“It is an honor to represent Beauxbatons. I hope to make my school and my classmates proud.” She spoke gently, a serene smile coming over her face as she forcibly softened her piercing green eyes. Skeeter smiled at her as the quill scratched away at the parchment.

“Can you tell us what the first task is?” Skeeter posed to the room.

“I’m afraid not, Ms. Skeeter.” She started quickly as she saw Weasley going to speak. “We were told it’s to be a test of our daring, that is all.” Skeeter nodded and asked a few more questions before grouping them together for a picture. She was made to sit in a chair with the two boys behind her. She smiled brilliantly at the camera as the photo was snapped.

Skeeter thanked them and left the room. She fled before the other two could ask her anything.

* * *

The day of the first task, Lyra dressed in black battle robes. A tight tube top made of dragonhide banded across her midsection, covered by a loose robe that ended at her hips. The front was open, revealing her toned stomach and sharp collarbones. The Beauxbatons crest was embroidered on the back of her robe in silver thread. Black leggings were paired with the outfit as well as black, thigh high, wedged dragonhide boots. Anubis was watching her warily as she tucked her necklace into her robes and placed it and her rings under heavy glamours. She braided her hair loosely, letting the weave fall down to her lower back. Everything she wore had been charmed to the nines, with runic patterns sewn in black into each piece. She just hoped it would be enough, along with her training.

She strode into the hall and the talking died down immediately. She took her normal spot between Draco and Blaise, feeding Anubis more bacon than she thought he could handle before hesitantly taking a roll for herself. She wasn’t all that hungry, but Fleur had that glare on her face that said ‘Lyr, if you don’t eat, I will tell Severus’, and she didn’t need Sev worrying even more right now. 

“How are you feeling?” Daphne asked, reaching over the table to place some strawberries on her plate. She smiled at the other girl taking her hand. 

“I’m alright.” Daphne nodded and thankfully didn’t comment on her shaking hands. Pansy rose from the other side of Blaise and stood behind her, casting charms on her hair and weaving something into the top of her braid. She looked curiously at her friend, who smiled softly.

“Carnations. I know they’re your favorite.” She smiled gratefully at the girl, brushing her hand over the back of her head to feel the carnations Pansy had stuck to her hair. It brought her a bit of comfort when Anubis bent to snuffle the white blooms, making her laugh as his breath tickled her neck. She turned to wrap her arms around the wolf’s neck, burying her head in his soft fur. As Draco set a hand on her shoulder, she pulled away and slipped Anubis’ earcuff onto his ear as she looked up to find Sev and Madame Maxime standing beside her. With a heavy sigh, she nodded and got up stiffly, walking out of the hall with the two adults and Anubis. 

She was led out onto the grounds and they started heading toward the quidditch pitch when Anubis bowled her over and heaved her up onto his back. She clung to him for dear life while he took off toward the pitch as she laughed and tried not to scream. It was still a school. Anubis slid to a stop in front of a tent and Madame and Severus apparated to catch up to them. She got off Anubis, still giggling, as she was led into the tent by Sev and her headmistress. 

Weasley and Osipova were already there, and she gave Sev a hug and Madame a small smile. Madame left the tent almost immediately after giving her a bone crushing hug after she’d embraced Severus. Turning to face her godfather, she took a deep breath. 

“You’ll do fine, Lyra. Just relax.” She nodded and sighed softly, leaning against her godfather again. 

“Whatever happens, don’t let Anubis onto the pitch.” She felt Sev nod before squeezing her one last time and leaving. With a heavy sigh, she moved to an empty corner of the tent and began to stretch.

Lucius Malfoy and Barty Crouch Jr. strode into the tent with a purple velvet bag clutched in Crouch’s hands. They turned to address the three champions as soon as the teenagers had formed a line. 

“Today is the day of the first task.” Malfoy began. “For your task, you will be facing a dragon and attempting to take a golden egg from its nest. The egg contains your clue for the next task.” 

She fought the urge to punch Malfoy in the throat. Dragons? Dragons?! They were stealing eggs from nesting dragons?! Whoever decided this was a good idea would have hell to pay if she got out of this alive. Crouch held out the bag to Weasley. 

“Inside this bag is a figurine of the dragon you will be fighting as well as the order you will be fighting in.” Crouch said gruffly as Weasley reached in and yelped, dragging his hand out to reveal a miniature of the Welsh Green biting his finger with a big number 1 painted on it’s side. Osipova went next, pulling out a Chinese Fireball with the number 2 on it. 

Lyra reluctantly reached into the bag and pulled her hand out when she felt something slither into her grasp. She held her hand flat and saw a small version of a Hungarian Horntail blinking at her. She blinked back, and the little thing curled up in her hand with a puff of white smoke. She chuckled at the little creature fondly, rubbing it’s scales with a fingertip. Luckily, the absurdity of it all wasn’t letting her feel the doom of facing the most ferocious species of dragon in existence. 

Weasley went first as a horn sounded, and she sat down with her little dragon as they listened to the cheers, screaming and deafening roars of a dragon. Petting the little thing in her palm, she tried not to let herself get too anxious. Almost as if sensing her distress, the little figurine crawled up her arm and onto her face before sticking its head in her open mouth when she tried to ask what he was doing. She almost died from laughing so hard that her lungs came out of her throat as the silly thing crawled across her face and decided to curl around her ear. Severus would be glad it was something small this time, she’d come home from the forest by Spinner’s End once with a whole herd of thestrals after her when she was thirteen, begging for food.

Finally, it was her turn. Crouch came to get her and she walked out of the tent with a confidence she didn’t feel. As she entered the arena, she didn’t hear anything. Not the crowd, not the dragon, nothing. Silencing charms, she guessed, as she heard stones cracking to her right. Ducking behind a boulder just as fire passed through where she had just been standing, she took a heaving breath and sheathed her wand. She wasn’t going to win this one with force. 

The mini dragon on her ear hissed contentedly when she put her wand away. With a deep breath, she held her arms away from her body and moved slowly from around the boulder. She was met with curious purple eyes and black scales. At least for right now, what she was doing was interesting, so she had to make herself as non-threatening as possible. So she did the most non-threatening thing she could think of. 

She began to sing. 

“Ave Maria,”

She watched the dragon tilt its head as she cast a silent, wandless sonorous charm on herself before unleashing the high, soprano notes into the air. 

“Gratia plena,

Maria, gratia plena,

Ave, ave dominus,”

Slowly, the dragon moved closer to her, so close that she could even feel the beast’s breath against her skin. 

“Dominus tecum,

Benedicta tu in mulieribus,

Et benedictus,

Et benedictus fructus ventris,

Ventris tuae, Jesus.

Ave Maria,”

She was being watched with intelligent, purple eyes but she did not look away. Still, she held her hands in the air, not making any sudden movements. 

“Ave Maria,

Mater Dei,

Ora pro nobis peccatoribus,

Ora pro nobis,”

The dragon slowly lowered it’s body to the ground, and she struggled to keep her voice from shaking with relief. 

“Ora, ora pro nobis peccatoribus,

Nunc et in hora mortis,

Et in hora mortis nostrae,

Et in hora mortis nostrae,

Et in hora mortis nostrae,

Ave Maria.”

The dragon blinked at her as she finished the song, before lifting its head and its clawed hand to reach toward her. She held still, not wanting to provoke the nest mother as she was picked up and lifted into the air. She was lifted high enough to be face to face with the beast, when the nest mother did something unexpected. 

It pressed the scaly seam of its jaw to her forehead in what was almost a kiss before she was drawn back. 

“-Young one, you have impressed me. Tell me why you have entered my nest’s domain.-” The dragon hissed at her, and to her surprise, she found herself hissing back.

“-Great Dragon, there is a golden impostor among your eggs. I have been placed in a tournament, and the egg is necessary for my next task. I ask to remove this impostor from among your children.-” Lyra bowed her head quickly as she was set back down on the ground. She scooted off the dragon’s clawed hand and watched as it moved over to the nest and picked up the golden egg. The dragon moved back toward her before dropping the egg in her arms. 

“-Go now, young one.-” She bowed quickly to the dragon before striding out of the arena with the egg in hand. She made it to the tent before sinking to the ground, shivering.

Sev was with her in an instant, taking the egg from her shaking hands and wrapping her in a hug as she tried to get her shivering under control. Anubis was licking her ear, and the mini dragon left her and crawled up to sit on Anubis’ head. She looked at them and laughed, finding the dragon and Anubis having a staring contest. 

“Don’t hurt him, Anubis. He’s friendly.” The direwolf just pushed a puff of air out of his nose as the dragon went to sit between Anubis’ ears. Sev pulled back and held her face in his hands, it was then she noticed he had tear tracks running down his own face. She reached up to brush away the traces of weakness before grinning at her godfather. “Didn’t expect that, did you?” 

Severus just chuckled and slapped her shoulder as another horn blew. She and Sev got off the ground as they walked back toward the quidditch pitch, Severus leaving to return to the stands. Anubis and the miniature stayed with her as she, Weasley, and Osipova tracked onto the field. Weasley looked extremely worse for wear, his arm was in a hastily put together sling and his hair was covered in soot. Osipova’s robes were a bit singed but otherwise, he looked fine. Seems she was the only one to make it out completely unscathed. They stood next to one another in a line on a wooden platform in the middle of the pitch as Malfoy began the announcement.

“As said at the beginning of the task, each champion can earn fifty points in total. Thirty for ingenuity, ten for time and ten for success!” Malfoy announced to the stadium. “In third place, with a total of thirty-four points, Ron Weasley!” There were claps and cheers, but Ron looked ready to explode. That, or sink into the ground. “In second place, with a total of forty-six points, Andri Osipova!” There were, again, cheers. “In first place, with a total of fifty points, Lyra Potter!” 

The stadium blew up with the cheers from Beauxbatons as they jumped down onto the pitch to swarm her. She was quickly thrown into the air repeatedly as Malfoy continued his speech.

“Congratulations, Champions! The clue for your next task lies with your eggs! Good luck!


	4. The Second Task

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://omigod.tumblr.com/post/634886952062173184/lyras-dress-shoes-makeup-and-jewelry-for-the
> 
> Lyra’s Yule Ball outfit! The other girls’ dresses are on my tumblr too.

The egg screamed.

It didn’t do anything else. It just screamed. Anubis and the newly dubbed Sobek had taken to growling at the golden egg anytime she tried to touch it. With a heavy sigh, she let Fleur drag her out of the carriage and into the main hall of Hogwarts. Dance classes were being held for the Yule Ball, which had been announced after the first task. As Fleur dragged her into the hall, she was met with her godfather and McGonagall trying to organize the students into lines. 

Rolling her eyes, she hefted her wand into the air and shot off several bright white sparks. The hall was silent almost immediately as she turned her decidedly bored look on them.

“Listen to your professors, or Merlin help us, we’ll never leave here and the champions will die in the second task because you took up too much of their time.” She exclaimed into the silent hall before dragging Fleur into a line near Severus, who was just smirking at her. 

“Yes, thank you, Miss Potter.” McGonagall cleared her throat. “Into lines, everyone. Partner up!” 

With a bored glance to Fleur, she flagged Draco down. He moved to stand in front of her with a grin, and they quickly began to dance a smooth waltz as McGonagall began the lesson and Blaise moved to dance with Fleur. Draco swept her around the room, and she watched the fumbling attempts of some of the other students. She grinned before turning back to Draco. 

“Want to show them what dancing is?” Draco’s smirk was downright evil as he leaned to whisper conspiratorially in her ear. 

“Tango?” She laughed outright, the sound ringing about the hall. 

“You know me so well.” She said as their steps turned sharper and quicker. 

They switched from a waltz to a tango effortlessly, sweeping around the room as Draco led her in sharp turns and quick steps. The sound of their footsteps echoed around the hall compared to the shuffling to the majority of the student body. 

“You are gliding, graceful gazelles! Not bumbling, bulky baboons!” McGonagall shouted into the hall before catching sight of her and Draco who had just guided her into an artful spin. “Well done, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Potter!” 

With that shout, more eyes turned to watch them as she and Draco danced. With a sharp grin, she turned to her partner as the dance slowed. 

“Salsa?” It was Draco’s turn to laugh.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Their movements became quicker as she was flung about Draco like air. The turns were faster and more often, the steps louder than those of the tango. She laughed happily as she spun, her hips twisting in time with the music she’d begun to play in her head. Draco spun her again and almost too soon was guiding her off to the side with applause from the rest of the hall.

* * *

She, Fleur, Daphne and Pansy were sitting in Pansy’s dorm room looking over catalogs of dresses and just chatting. Pansy and Daphne had taken up the loveseat whilst Fleur had taken an armchair and she was sprawled on the floor. She was looking through black dresses when Daphne looked over and made a noise of distress that almost sounded like choking. 

“Lyra, you are not wearing black to the Yule Ball. Yes, you’ll look beautiful in anything, which I envy, but you are not wearing black.” She sighed and flipped toward the green options before eyeing Daphne, who nodded.

“Much better.” She just grinned at her friend’s antics before looking back at the catalog and circling an option she liked to owl order later. She’d have to stop by her vaults to pick some jewelry later, she doubted Madame would forbid her from making a quick trip to Gringotts. 

“I didn’t know you could sing like that, Lyra… It was beautiful. Even the boys were crying.” Pansy said softly and she chuckled, looking up at her friend, ready to say something when an idea flashed through her head. She scrambled to her feet and toward her satchel, pulling out the egg before turning frantically to Pansy.

“Pansy, may I use your tub?” She exclaimed, looking more than a little crazed. All Pansy did was nod dumbly and she was rushing into the bathroom to fill the tub. 

Once it was filled, she took off the top half of her uniform, placed the egg in the water and stuck her head under. Opening the egg, she almost let out a sigh of relief when instead of screeching, she heard singing. 

“Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you’re searching ponder this;

We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,

An hour long you’ll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour, the prospect’s black,

Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back.”

Pulling her head out of the water, she gasped for breath before summoning a quill and parchment to her. Uncaring of the water dripping off her body, she jotted down the prose of the song before drying herself with a charm and redressing. Dragging the egg out of the now empty tub, she ran back into Pansy’s bedroom with a manic grin, holding up the paper like a trophy. 

“I have the next clue!”

The girls started to squeal. Legitimately squeal as they got up to hug her. Maybe she wouldn’t die in this tournament after all.

* * *

“Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?”

Lyra felt her eye twitch in irritation. This was the twenty-third person to ask her to go to the Yule Ball with them. She’d just about had enough. At first she’d been polite, telling the first seven that she already had someone in mind, but once it got past ten she was down to ‘Sorry, no.’ and walking away as fast as she could without it looking like she was running away. Now that she was on twenty-three, she was ready to shout ‘Harassment!’ at the top of her lungs. Instead, she simply said, “No.” and spun on her heel, leaving the flabbergasted Gryffindor in the middle of the hallway.

This whole Yule Ball thing was really starting to get on her nerves. She couldn’t even say she wasn’t going because she was required to as a Champion. Sitting down next to Fleur in the library, she dropped her head onto the table with a groan. Her blonde friend chuckled, patting her back affectionately.

“What number?” 

“Twenty-three.” Lyra groaned into the table, and Fleur sighed, stroking her black hair. 

“You have to take someone, Lyr. You can’t just go by yourself because you’ll be hounded all night and you need to open the ball.” Fleur chided, and she leaned into the Veela with a sigh. 

“I want to enjoy it, Fleur. I don’t want to have to be polite for four hours.” 

Someone chuckled in front of her, and she dragged her head off the table just to smile brightly. With an easy laugh, she got up and found herself promptly wrapped in two sets of identical arms.

“Fred! George! I didn’t know you two were here.” She smiled up at them as they released her, Fred grinning cheekily. 

“We were here for the first task. Meant to say hello, but Ron got hurt.” Fred shrugged.

“Now, what’s this we hear about a blood feud?” George waggled his eyebrows at her. 

“And twenty something people asking for your glorious company.” They both asked as they swept into low, mocking bows. She giggled and sat back down, watching as they did the same before putting up a silencing charm around them. 

“Your brother is getting on my nerves. And if he continues, I’ll just adopt you both into one of my families and ruin him.” She crossed her legs and watched as the twins grew identical smirks. 

“Adopt us? Oh, Lyrie! We’re touched!” Fred exclaimed before turning more serious. “But on a more serious note, if you want to declare a blood feud, go ahead. We don’t mind.” 

“Our family hasn’t been the most… accepting. It’d be nice to get away from Molly and Ginny.” George shrugged sheepishly, placing a hand on the back of his neck. She sighed and reached out to grasp the hands of both twins. She smiled softly and squeezed their hands before she spoke. 

“You’ll always have a place with me. You were my best friends in first year before I left for Beauxbatons. I won’t forget that.” Her smile grew brighter. “I already consider you my family, my brothers, so don’t hesitate to ask me for help.” The twins smiled at her before changing the subject to something lighter. 

“So, what’s this we hear about Yule Ball issues?”

* * *

“Will you go to the Yule Ball with me, Lyra Potter Black Peverell?” 

She rounded on whoever came up to ask her such an annoying question for the eighty-seventh time, interrupting her delicious breakfast of strawberries and a small baguette, fully prepared to knock teeth out before she saw who it was. Thankfully it was Theo on his knee behind her and she almost cried with relief. She didn’t know if she could take any more reoccurrence of the damned question, and Theo was a far better option than a Gryffindor oaf. She noticed the hall going silent around her and she just grinned. Theo had obviously done this to get everyone off her back. With a fond shake of her head, she answered.

“I will.”

* * *

The four girls were once again in Pansy’s bedroom, getting ready for the ball. Hogwarts had provided them with a changing screen and two vanities to do their makeup and hair, which she and the girls were extremely grateful for. 

Lyra was currently spelling Fleur’s hair into an intricate bun while Daphne was painting makeup on Pansy’s face. They’d each decided to go for a more neutral color palette for the makeup, with golds and browns for the eyeshadow and a tone of blush lipstick to go with their complexions. Lyra had just finished Fleur’s make up, spelling a stasis and impervious charm especially for makeup on her friend’s face. Daphne had spelled Pansy’s hair into a loose braid before coiling it into a bun atop the other girl’s head. 

She and Fleur switched places along with Daphne and Pansy, and she quickly applied her own makeup as Fleur curled her hair and recreated the style her wand had created for her. The black tresses were braided into two pieces, leaving the majority free flowing. The two braids were then combined into one. Carnations were spelled into her hair, and she turned to look at it in the mirror. The long hair ended at her knee, with the braid ending at her lower back. Carnations were woven into the braid and were charmed silver to match her jewelry. 

Daphne had her hair in a tight ballerina bun, with a similar color palette of makeup. She smiled at the other girls before pushing Pansy toward the screen. After a few minutes, they were all dressed and she looked over the others as she slipped her feet into her shoes. 

Daphne was wearing a two tone white and midnight blue gown with a beaded top and a sheer overskirt. She’d chosen dark blue pumps to match her dress and a pair of sapphire earrings to compliment her eyes. Pansy wore a blush pink dress with a beaded top, and she chose stiletto wedges in a similar color to complete the look. Fleur looked stunning in a silver, long sleeved gown with a pair of matching silver heels. 

She herself had chosen an emerald green, long sleeved dress with a pair of strappy heels in the same shade of green. She paired it with an emerald necklace and matching earrings she’d gotten from the Potter vaults. Smoothing invisible wrinkles in the a-line gown, she looked back up at the three girls with a bright smile. 

“You all look magnificent!” She giggled as she slid her wand into a pocket in the folds of her dress.

“What time is it?” Daphne asked, making sure her earrings were secure as she fussed one last time with Pansy’s hair. Fleur cast a quick tempus and exclaimed in surprise. 

“We have to go! Quickly! We have ten minutes to get to the Great Hall!” Fleur shouted, beginning to push them all out of Pansy’s room as they giggled and strode out of the Slytherin common room. She took Pansy’s arm as Daphne took Fleur’s and they strode up and out of the dungeons and toward the hall. 

The boys were all standing there, Draco waiting for Daphne, Blaise waiting for Fleur, Vincent waiting for Pansy and Theo waiting for her. They were all dressed in variations of black dress robes, though Draco’s looked a bit more blue than the rest. The sounds of their heels on stone flooring alerted them to their arrival, and the boys turned toward them with varying degrees of smiles and wide eyes. 

She let go of Pansy and pushed her toward Vincent as the other girl glared at her, Lyra just giggling in response as she moved to Theo with confident strides. She was offered an arm almost immediately and she grinned at the boy as he guided her over to the other Champions. She smiled blindingly at Osipova before turning to Weasley and quickly looking away so as not to laugh. 

“Osipova, Weasley.” She smiled, biting the inside of her cheek. Weasley’s robes looked like they were from the fourth century. They were a horrible mauve color with ruffles everywhere and his date was the known floozy, Lavender Brown. Andri had chosen a girl from Ravenclaw she hadn’t bothered to learn the name of, and she seemed quite taken with the young Bulgarian.

“Potter, please call me Andri. You look stunning.” She smiled at Andri as she brought her ringed hand up to her collarbone in a fake show of bashfulness. 

“Andri, thank you. You look dashing, if I may. And please, just Lyra.” She smiled at the tall brunette as Filch waved at them frantically. Supposedly that was their cue, so they formed a line, with her and Theo in the front, Andri and the Ravenclaw in the middle, and Weasley and Brown in the back. 

They made their way down the aisle of clapping students to the dance floor. Taking position with Theo, she waited till Flitwick struck up the orchestra and for Theo to take her waist before she put her hand on his shoulder. They danced effortlessly in the cotillion, switching hands and dancing about the room until Theo lifted her into the air, her skirt flowing in the air. 

They danced that way for a while until Dumbledore took McGonagall out onto the floor and began to dance. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the groundskeeper making his way toward Madame’s tall figure and she struggled not to laugh at the awkward encounter. Theo lifted her again and she smiled brightly as she spotted Fleur and Blaise dancing as well. As they spun, she caught Sev scowling at her and she giggled, guiding Theo over to the potions master. With a sheepish smile to Theo, she dragged Sev out onto the dance floor and made him dance with her. 

“Who are you scowling at?” She giggled as Severus’ scowl deepened. 

“Why are you dressing up for the Nott boy? You’re too young for boys.” Sev pouted and she outright laughed as her godfather lifted her. 

“Papa! I’m seventeen, and I’m dressing up for myself!” She giggled as Sev spun her. She saw Severus look at her in surprise, but she just smiled at the only parent she’d ever known. “What?” 

“You called me…” He just stared at her with wide eyes and she started laughing again. 

“Because it’s what you are. Why can’t I call my father ‘papa’?” She tilted her head, a teasing smile on her lips as the man shook his head and scowled. She knew better, though, since he had a new shine in his eyes that hadn’t been there before and a new lightness in his steps.

* * *

The second task would be in the Black Lake.

That’s what she’d gotten from the clue. She didn’t exactly know what they could take that she’d sorely miss, but she was supposedly going to have an hour to recover it. She’d not so secretly stolen gillyweed from Sev’s stores. More like she walked into his classroom, opened his storeroom, took the gillyweed, waved to her father, and walked out. She could still picture Sev shaking his head before going back to work. 

Today was the day of the task and she hadn’t seen Sev anywhere. She shrugged it off as him being paranoid and making sure she wouldn’t die. With a sigh, she changed into the black one piece bathing suit and slung a robe around her shoulders. She had left her hair loose, hoping it would catch some of the heat that was escaping her. Casting multiple heating charms on herself, she stepped out of the carriage and started toward the lake with Fleur. 

Getting into a boat, they crossed toward the platforms that had been built for the task. Stepping onto the platform with Fleur, they approached Madame with tentative smiles. The tall woman gave her a tight hug, which she gladly returned. Dumbledore started announcing and she turned back toward the lake as Fleur took the cloak from her shoulders. 

“Welcome to the second task.” Dumbledore began as she shivered and cast more warming charms on herself. 

“Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions. A treasure, of sorts.” She felt her stomach drop and her blood run cold.

“These three treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the Black Lake.” She knew what they took. She knew. 

“In order to win, each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough. Except for this, they will have but one hour to do so, and one hour only. After that, they’ll be on their own. No magic will save them.” She shoved the gillyweed into her mouth and swallowed it. 

“You may begin at the sound of the canon.” The canon sounded and she dove into the water, feeling searing pain in her neck as she grew gills. She only knew one thing in the haze that was her panic as she swam as fast as she could. 

They had taken her father. 

Swimming down into a crevice, she passed through a kelp bed as quickly as possible. Singing started to sound in her ears, and she looked around wildly before she heard the muted sounds of spellfire. She dove deeper, moving toward the bursts of light and muted sound until she came upon Weasley. At first she couldn’t see what he was firing at, but then something moved in the murky water. She turned to see Weasley swimming away at a breakneck speed, and felt water beat against her. Slowly, she turned around.

Face to face with her, was a kelpie. 

The beast had kelp for a mane and tail and a coat of black fur. Dark eyes stared at her as she stared back, trying to figure out why the kelpie hadn’t eaten her yet. A glance at it’s neck gave her the answer. Weasley had hit it with a spell, and cut its hide. 

Ever so slowly, she took out her own wand, letting the kelpie smell it before moving it toward the wound. As gently as she could, she cast the litany of healing spells that she knew of on the poor kelpie, hopefully healing any damage that was done by Weasley. Tucking her wand away, she moved to swim away when the kelpie blocked her path. She stayed incredibly still as the kelpie advanced on her to sniff her. 

The kelpie apparently liked what it smelled, as it nuzzled against her throat. She let out a startled laugh as the kelpie rubbed its nose against her hair. 

“Hello…” Her voice sounded distorted, but the kelpie seemed to understand, as it whickered in response. With a thoughtful frown, she looked at her new friend. “Can you help me? Someone important to me is trapped at the bottom of the lake.” 

The kelpie whinnied, and she took that as a go ahead to get on the creature’s back. Soon, she and the kelpie were soaring through the water. As they came upon a village full of merpeople, she felt the gillyweed beginning to wear off, so she urged the kelpie forward toward the end of the village. The merpeople scurried out of the way, probably used to avoiding the usually dangerous kelpies. There were three pillars, each with a person on them. She saw Andri already swimming toward the surface with the Ravenclaw he had with him at the Yule Ball. Together with the kelpie, they raced toward Severus and freed him. She cast a quick bubble head charm on him before looking around. 

Weasley was nowhere to be seen, and what looked like his sister was still on the pillar. With a sigh, she turned the kelpie toward Weasley’s sister, setting her loose and placing her next to Sev. With the two hostages secure, she urged the kelpie toward the surface. 

As they rode across the surface of the lake, she felt the gillyweed wear off. With a grateful breath, she smiled when Severus groaned from behind her. 

“What… Lyra?” The man groaned, peering up at her as she turned to look at him. 

“Hi, Papa!” She turned back toward the platforms they were riding toward, the sound of applause quickly beginning to sound in her ears. 

“Are we on a kelpie?” 

“Mhm!” She hummed. Sev just groaned again. 

“Are we keeping it?”

“If the kelpie wants to be kept!” She chirped happily, to which the kelpie whinnied, almost as if to say, ‘Yes, you’re keeping me, foolish human.’ and she laughed when Severus just groaned again.

They arrived at the platform and the kelpie happily jumped up onto it, startling everyone. She and Sev, along with the small Weasley slid off the kelpie and onto the ground where they were immediately swaddled in warm towels and blankets. Fleur was looking at her like she was insane. 

“A kelpie? Really, Lyra?” The kelpie put its chin on her head as she shrugged. 

“It was the kelpie’s choice, not mine.” Fleur snorted before glancing toward the kelpie’s back end. 

“What are you going to name her?” Turning to face her new friend, she lifted a hand up to scratch the soft fur on the kelpie’s cheek. 

“How about Nephthys?” The kelpie whinnied and nosed her forehead. She just giggled as Severus let out a long-suffering sigh. She turned to her father with a bright grin. “At least it’s not a herd of kelpies like the thestral incident.” The man just grunted and she laughed again before a frown took over her face. “Papa, did they tell you that you’d be a hostage?” 

The man began to shake his head before his eyes widened and he began to nod emphatically, but it was too late. Her eyes had already darkened to a stormy green and she was climbing back onto Nephthys and urging her out onto the water, casting a sonorous on herself. 

“Who was in charge of choosing the hostages and placing them under the Black Lake?!” She shouted into the air as everyone quieted. No one spoke, and the tension grew. She snarled and the sound echoed around the lake.

“If no one answers me by tomorrow evening, then Albus Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy and Bartemius Crouch Jr. will be hearing from my solicitor!” She roared before cancelling the charm. 

When she’d gotten back to the carriage, she’d written out a letter to Rita Skeeter almost immediately, offering to meet in Hogsmeade over the weekend for an exclusive. Ms. Skeeter was only too happy to comply.

* * *

“Thank you so much for meeting me, Ms. Skeeter.” Lyra smiled softly and sadly at the woman.

“Of course, Miss Potter. I was delighted to hear from you.” The woman smiled her signature sharklike smile. “What was it you wished to discuss?” 

“Ms. Skeeter, I’d like to offer you an exclusive about myself that will surely become the gossip of the year.” She smiled gently at the other woman. “You see, I’m not sure how else to protect myself.” Skeeter nodded hungrily and brought out the infamous Quick Notes quill and notepad, but she held up a hand. 

“I’d like for this to be the epitome of the truth. I know that in the art of media, some things must be… sensationalized, but I’d like for this to be in my own words.” Her eyes glanced over to the quill to convey her meaning, and Skeeter nodded hesitantly, disabling the charm. “I promise you, Ms. Skeeter, there will be no need to sensationalize this.”


	5. Marriage

EXCLUSIVE: LYRA POTTER OPENS UP ABOUT PAST

by Rita Skeeter

That’s right, my lovely readers!

Lyra Potter, Champion of Beauxbatons and Lady of the houses Potter, Black and Peverell is finally opening up about her past to the one and only Rita Skeeter! We all know how the Wizengamot received a notice six years ago on the fact that the Potter, Black and Peverell lordships had all been claimed and that the proxy at the time, Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump Albus Dumbledore, no longer had the power to vote on behalf of the houses. 

The lovely Lady Potter Black Peverall has informed me that she was indeed the witch who claimed the lordships. Some of you may ask why Lady Potter declared Dumbledore’s position as her families’ proxy to be voided. The answer, dear readers, is that she simply didn’t trust him. 

“After my first trip to Gringotts six years ago, I met with my family member who was supposed to have custody of me after my parents passed. I was told that my family member wasn’t in the right state of mind to care for an infant, so I was given to Dumbledore. When my family member tried to get in contact with me, all Dumbledore would tell them was that I was safe and cared for.”

This is something Lady Potter strongly disagrees with. She gave me a summary of her early childhood to print here for you to view, and I must tell you, my readers, it is not for the faint of heart. 

“I stayed with my mother’s sister and her family. My mother and her sister had a huge falling out and never spoke to each other again after my mother left for Hogwarts. In the journals my mother left, she described my aunt as hating anything to do with magic. I didn’t even know I was a witch until I was nine years old.

“I constantly feared I’d cross a line while I was living in that house. I strongly believe the only reason I wasn’t beaten for being ‘abnormal’ was because my cousin had taken a liking to me and was too young to listen to my aunt and uncle’s brainwashing.”

Is that any life for a child, dear readers? A life of constant fear and worry? Lady Potter reflects on some of her earlier memories with me as well, and some of these recollections are truly heartbreaking. 

“When I was smaller, and my cousin and I didn’t get along as well, I remember being locked somewhere dark. There were slats in the door, letting air and a tiny amount of light into the room. All I had was an old, scratchy bath towel to sleep on. When my cousin finally decided he liked me, I was given a space in the attic. It was only after I’d moved into the attic that I’d realized I’d been living in a cupboard under the stairs.”

I asked Lady Potter who gave her to her relatives who so obviously neglected the poor young woman. Surely not our savior, Albus Dumbledore? The wizard who defeated Gellert Grindelwald? Here’s what Lady Potter had to say. 

“My aunt gave me a letter on my ninth birthday. It explains how my parents died, what my name is, and why I was lying in a bundle of blankets on my relatives’ doorstep. It was signed ‘Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts’.” 

My readers, Lady Potter allowed me to photograph this note and it is shown below for those who wish to see it. So I ask you this, how could Albus Dumbledore leave little Lyra Potter with muggles who so obviously hated magic that the late Lady Potter’s own sister started a feud?

“I don’t feel safe at Hogwarts, or in Britain, really. In my first year, he (Dumbledore) was always staring at me and calling me into his office. His gaze made me feel… dirty… like someone had just pulled out my most intimate secrets. My mind was always a mess when I left his office, I couldn’t tell what was happening to me.”

Dear readers, Lady Potter couldn’t continue our interview because of her distress. She has pleaded with me to share the truth, and that is what this journalist intends to do. What could break a normally lively young woman so completely? Why did Albus Dumbledore give Lady Potter to her magic-hating relatives? 

Some of you will wonder why Lady Potter is only speaking now. And this is what she had to say to the people who think she had an ulterior motive.

“I’m just so afraid. I don’t know how to protect myself from such a powerful man and I don’t know how to protect my family. Even if you don’t believe my story, please, at least share it. Perhaps it won’t help my situation at all, but it would allow me some modicum of peace, hopefully enough to get a full night’s rest. Thank you.”

* * *

Lyra smiled at the article on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Skeeter had done her job well, playing up the poor, innocent orphan part of her before dragging Dumbledore through the mud. She was extremely pleased, even more so when Dumbledore practically went red from rage. 

Almost all the students were now reading the article and Dumbledore, in his rage, was storming right to her. Inwardly she smiled, outwardly she put an appropriately terrified look on her face. Once Dumbledore got within ten feet of her and it was apparent to everyone that he was walking toward her, she screamed. 

“Please, no! Not again! Leave me be!” She shrieked, tears falling down her cheeks as she scrambled away from the old bastard, pressing herself against the wall. She shrank down to the floor, sobbing and hiding her face in her hands. 

“Albus, leave my student alone!” She heard Madame shout from the head table. 

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she jerked violently, looking up at the person who touched her. It was just Severus, and she collapsed into his arms with a heartbreaking sob. She didn’t see her father look at Dumbledore with a deadly glare. 

“Albus, if you hurt my daughter I will skin you alive.” Sev picked her up in a bridal carry and she wrapped her arms around his neck, whimpers and sobs still wracking her petite form. 

“I’ve never hurt the girl!” Dumbledore bellowed into the hall, and she flinched and let out another sob. 

As Severus carried her from the hall, she heard cries of outrage from the students and she smirked into her father’s shoulder. Her plan had worked perfectly. 

Sev set her down in his quarters, and she sat down and laughed. Her father just sighed and shook his head as she spelled her tears away and cleaned her face. As he was in the kitchen making tea, she giggled to herself at how well it had actually worked. Severus came back and handed her a mug which she gladly took before sitting down across from her. He stared at her for a moment before shaking his head again.

“Wonderful acting skills.” She burst into laughter again.

* * *

Anywhere she went now, she almost always had a guard of older and younger students alike, walking her through the halls and staying with her in the library or anywhere else that wasn’t a class or the Great Hall. She truly hadn’t expected her little performance to work so well. 

Students had obviously written home to their parents about what happened because she was constantly being sent jewelry with protection charms on them from wealthier families and chocolate, which was thoroughly checked for amortentia, from others. In the hall, she always looked touched and smiled blindingly at whatever she was given. Privately, when she, Severus, and her friends were behind closed doors, she laughed hysterically at just how well her act was working. 

Honestly, it was kind of sad how easily the wizarding world was duped by one seventeen year old, but she had more important things to worry about. She was hurrying out of the carriage and onto the grounds with Anubis and Sobek, Nephthys taking some time for herself in the lake. 

There was a storm tonight as she hadn’t held a mandrake leaf under her tongue for a month for nothing. Moving into the Forbidden Forest, she picked up her crystal phial and placed her wand tip against her heart. 

“Amato Animo Animato Animagus.” She said softly before drinking the potion. She felt a searing pain in her body, and felt a second heartbeat next to hers. Giving her wand to Anubis quickly, she gasped as a silver shape entered her mind. 

She saw emerald green eyes so similar to hers and she walked toward the figure in her mindscape willingly. All of a sudden, she felt herself growing shorter and shifting. She stretched, and made her way to the brook nearby to look at her reflection. Staring down at the water, she yipped in excitement. 

Staring back at her was a snow white fox with piercing green eyes. 

Shifting back, she moved to retrieve her wand from Anubis with a playful smile. She scratched his head as she put her wand back in it’s holster. With a giggle, she started to lead Anubis and Sobek, who was sitting on top of Anubis, back toward the castle. 

“What do you say we go show Papa?” Anubis barked in response and Sobek hissed happily, wiggling on his spot atop Anubis’ head. 

They raced through the castle under a disillusionment charm before making it to Severus’ quarters. Walking into the living area, she shushed her companions before transforming into her fox self and padding to the bedroom door. A cocked ear heard steady breathing, indicating that Sev was indeed asleep, and she nosed open the door. 

Sev was laying on his back in the middle of the bed, fast asleep. Walking over to the side of the bed, she tried to jump up onto the bed. She didn’t make it all the way and fell on her haunches on the floor. With a puff of warm air through her nose, she sprung up onto the bed and raced in a pleased circle. 

Climbing up onto Severus’ chest, she sat down and wrapped her tail around her tiny paws. With a deep breath, she started making that high pitched laughing sound only foxes could make. 

Almost immediately, Sev jerked awake and looked at her blearily. He scrubbed his eyes and looked at her again. He looked so confused, she couldn’t help the yip that slipped from her mouth. When the man turned and saw Anubis and Sobek, he sighed and let his head fall back onto the pillow. 

“Lyra, when did you become an animagus?” She jumped off the bed and shifted back, giggling.

“Twenty minutes ago.” 

“Is this why you commandeered my lab?” Sev blinked at her owlishly as she laughed and nodded. He groaned and brought his hands up to rub at his face. “You’re going to make my hair grey before I turn fifty.” She just giggled again as Severus sat up in bed. “Have you named her yet?”

“No. How about you name her?” She cocked her head with a smile as her father yawned. 

“Isis.” He finally said, and she smiled. 

“After the Egyptian goddess of magic? I like it.” She leaned over and kissed Sev’s forehead. “Good night, Papa.”

She left the room as quickly as she came, disillusioning Anubis, Sobek, and herself. They ran through the halls of the school once again before entering the carriage and creeping to her room. She watched Anubis and Sobek curl up on her bed before transforming to Isis and curling up with them.

* * *

It was the morning of the third task, and she slipped Anubis’ earcuff on easily. She’d created two more pieces, a small necklace for Sobek and another earcuff for Nephthys. Once all her companions were properly adorned, she pulled on her battle robes from the first task. Making sure her boots were secure, she led her small zoo of friends out of the carriage and into the Great Hall. 

Sitting down next to Fleur, she started to feed Anubis his bacon, Nephthys her kelp and pineapple and Sobek his tiny cubes of raw meat. Only after all her companions were fed did she pick up her own plate to eat her traditional baguette and strawberries with sugar. 

The Veela put a hand on her shoulder, and she smiled slightly at the other girl as they got up together to walk to the quidditch pitch. On the pitch there was a maze, and she, Andri and Weasley moved toward the three entrances. One was marked green, for her. Another red, for Weasley, and one blue for Andri. She heard Dumbledore say that she’d go first because she was in first place, and at the sound of the cannon, she raced into the maze, the hedges closing behind her. 

The maze was… dark.

The tall hedges made her feel impossibly small as she wandered the maze, taking lefts and rights. Suddenly, she felt oh so cold. Turning, she saw the cloaked figure of a dementor drifting toward her and she scrambled back, raising her wand. 

“Expecto Patronum!” She yelled, silvery mist shooting from the tip of her wand. A beautiful winged horse flew toward her, nuzzling her forehead as the dementor was repelled. From what she could tell, it was a Granian instead of an Abraxan. It followed her as she walked through the maze, providing light as she fought off the Blast Ended Skrewts and it walked with her when she came upon the Sphinx. 

“Answer two riddles and I shall let you pass, fail two riddles and I shall attack. Do nothing and I shall do nothing as well.” The Sphinx intoned in a gravelly voice. 

“Please tell me the riddles.” Lyra said softly. 

“I look flat, but I am deep, 

Hidden realms I shelter.

Lives I take, but food I offer.

At times I am beautiful.

I can be calm, angry and turbulent.

I have no heart, but offer pleasure as well as 

death.

No man can own me, but I encompass what all 

men must have.” The Sphinx finished the first riddle, and Lyra thought for a moment.

“The ocean?” She asked tentatively, and the Sphinx nodded before beginning the next riddle.

“What always ends everything?” Lyra snorted before answering the Sphinx.

“The letter G.” The Sphinx sprang away from it’s spot and moved off into the maze. She ran through the passage the Sphinx had left, glad that her patronus kept her company. 

Finally, she reached the cup. It gleamed gold in the dusky light. The hedge closed behind her once she got near the cup, and hesitantly she took hold of the shining metal. Almost instantly, she felt a pulling sensation in her navel. Closing her eyes, she gripped her wand tight as she was portkeyed.

* * *

Opening the emerald jewels once more, she found herself in what looked to be a ballroom. It was elegant, marble flooring and tasteful moulding. Masked men and women stood in rows facing what looked to be a dais. On said dais was a gilded throne and seated on said throne was a man. 

He wore dark green, almost black robes with silver accents. His auburn eyes met hers and she quirked one of her brows. She wouldn’t deny he was good looking, with delicately styled dark brown hair and high cheekbones, but she wanted to know why she was there.

“Lady Potter Black Peverell. How kind of you to join us.” The man intoned silkily. She sighed and set the cup down on the floor before taking controlled, elegant steps forward. 

“It seems you have me at a disadvantage, sir. You know my name, but I have yet to be made aware of yours.” She folded her hands in front of her, a delicate smile coming over her face as she tucked her wand away. The man smiled a smile filled with knives as he answered her question, and she brought a hand idly up to her necklace, tapping it once so her companions could hear that she was alright. 

“My apologies, Lady Peverell. My name is Thomas Gaunt Slytherin, Lord of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin and Lord of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Gaunt.” Recognition flashed in her eyes. The leader of the dark faction. Dumbledore’s enemy.

“If I may, Lord Slytherin, why ever have you resorted to such means of meeting with me? A simple letter would have been most appropriate, I believe.” She conjured a chair out of thin air, wandlessly, and sat down, crossing her ankles, slanting her legs just so. 

She saw Lord Slytherin’s eye twitch slightly.

“Again, my apologies, Lady Peverell.” He tapped his finger against the arm of his throne. “There is something I’d like to discuss with you, and I’m sure it would benefit us both.”

“I’m sure this need not be discussed immediately.” She smiled sweetly and rose from her seat, banishing the chair with a wave of her hand. “I’ll be awaiting your owl. I’m sure if you can afford to set all this up to kidnap me, you’ll be able to send a portkey for myself and my father by mail?” 

She didn’t give him a chance to respond as she summoned the cup to her hand and portkeyed away.

* * *

She was sitting in front of Severus tapping her fingers against the arm of the sofa. She’d just told him everything that had happened when she’d grabbed the TriWizard Cup the first time and he didn’t even look surprised. Sighing, she rubbed a hand across her forehead.

“You knew, didn’t you?” He just looked at her sheepishly. “You’re working for him, aren’t you?” He again, didn’t say anything, just looking away. “What does he want, Papa?”

He looked up at that and she could see him gnawing his lip. He obviously didn’t want to tell her, but this involved her now. This Lord Slytherin wanted something from her, and she had to plan accordingly. 

“He wants to marry you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to know what Tom wants! More details about it in the next chapter. This chapter is a little shorter because my allergies are acting up and they’re killing me.


	6. Engagement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/uMKsNKfxAyPy71aeA 
> 
> Song Lyra sings in this chapter. 
> 
> https://omigod.tumblr.com/post/635415794868682752/lyras-engagement-ball-outfit
> 
> https://omigod.tumblr.com/post/635415754956734464/lyras-outfit-to-go-see-lord-slytherin
> 
> https://omigod.tumblr.com/post/635415697176068096/lyras-engagement-ringwedding-band

She’d received a letter formally inviting her and Severus to Slytherin Castle, which also contained a portkey. Lyra had promptly dressed in a knee length, black maxi dress paired with strappy, black stilettos. She painted her lips a bright red and applied smokey, black eyeshadow. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun and she had all her lordship rings resting on her right hand. The emerald necklace she always wore was hanging freely around her neck, glinting in the light. She slipped hanging emerald earrings into her ears and her outfit was complete. 

With a sigh, she took her father’s arm and they portkeyed to Slytherin Castle. They arrived in what looked like a floo room, and soon Sev was leading them throughout the building, Lyra still attached to his arm. Her father led her to a set of double doors which swung open to reveal a table holding a seated Lord Slytherin along with a wary looking Lord Malfoy. She arched a brow but said nothing as Lord Slytherin rose. She tightened her grip on her father’s arm to prevent him from bowing to his future son-in-law and she slipped her hand from his elbow. With effortless grace, she moved forward as Lord Slytherin came to take her hand and kiss the air above it, Lord Malfoy following a moment behind. 

“Lady Potter Black Peverell. We’re so glad you could join us.” She watched as Slytherin’s eyes flickered to Severus. “Thank you for escorting the Lady, Severus. You may go.” The man said dismissively. She stifled the urge to roll her eyes.

“I believe we agreed that my father would take part in these negotiations, did we not, Lord Slytherin?” She said charmingly as she made her way over to sit down at the right of the head seat, crossing her ankles. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Slytherin gape at her as Sev made his way over to sit at her side. “My father has told me there’s something you’d like to ask me.” Lord Slytherin grumbled before sitting down and fixing his mask. 

“Yes, Lady Peverell. I have noticed your… disdain for a certain Chief Warlock.” She examined her nails dismissively. 

“A powerful man has many enemies. Why meet with me?” She posed, arching a brow as she looked at the brunette. 

“A mutual hate is a strong motivation for an… alliance, of sorts.” He tiptoed around the topic masterfully, but she was growing tired of the beating around the bush. She turned her head to stare the man directly in the eyes. 

“Lord Slytherin, I applaud you for your apt use of misdirection, but I’d rather you cut to the chase, so to speak.” She said bluntly. She watched the man’s eye twitch. 

“Lady Peverell, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He gritted out, and she smiled sweetly. 

“I am not opposed.” She paused, leaning back slightly. “But I will require some small concessions. I assume you already have a contract?” A sheaf of parchment appeared in front of her and she picked it up gingerly and began to read. Humming to herself, she took in the basic marriage contract with a few added clauses, such as acting appropriately in the marriage and clauses about fidelity. With a wave of her hand, she quickly added in the clauses she wanted before reading over it again.

* * *

Marriage Contract of Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin and Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell

The following is a document solidifying the union of Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell and Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin. The following provisions will be observed and followed by both parties.

Article One: Properties and Lordships 

Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell will hold absolute control over the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Peverell. 

Lordships Potter, Black and Peverell will only be inherited by the magical heir born of the union of Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin and Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell. Should Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell pass without an heir, all lordships are to be transferred to Lord Severus Tobias Snape Prince.

Properties pertaining to the lordships Potter, Black and Peverell will only be inherited by the magical heir born of the union of Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin and Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell. Should Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell pass without an heir, all properties are to be transferred to Lord Severus Tobias Snape Prince. 

Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin will hold absolute control over the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Gaunt and the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin.

Article Two: Intimacy, Children and Adoptions

Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell will bear a child and/or children for the Houses of Potter, Black, Peverell, Gaunt and Slytherin.

Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell will not pressure Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin into any intimate acts that may or may not result in the conception of a child and/or children.

Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin will not pressure Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell into any intimate acts that may or may not result in the conception of a child and/or children. 

Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin will not begin using any child and/or children born or adopted for political maneuvering until their majority or until such a time where said child and/or children can protect themselves. 

Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell will not begin using any child and/or children born or adopted for political maneuvering until their majority or until such a time where said child and/or children can protect themselves. 

Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin will not object to any adoptees that Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell may or may not decide to adopt under the houses Potter, Black and Peverell. 

Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell will consult Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin on the matter of any adoptions, blood or otherwise.

Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin will consult Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell on the matter of any adoptions, blood or otherwise.

Article Three: Other

Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell will treat Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin with respect and as an equal. 

Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin will treat Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell with respect and as an equal. 

Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell will not harm Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin mentally, emotionally, physically, sexually, magically or otherwise. 

Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin will not harm Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell mentally, emotionally, physically, sexually, magically or otherwise.

* * *

She handed the finished contract to Slytherin for him to look over, watching as he read through it. He arched a brow before ultimately nodding his head and setting it down. 

“Your terms are agreeable. I will file this with Gringotts until the wedding. When would you like to announce the engagement?” Slytherin asked her and she smoothed imaginary wrinkles on her dress before shooting the man a soft smile.

“Whenever suits the agenda the most.” Her smile turned sharp. “You can give me Dumbledore’s head on a pike as a wedding present.”

Malfoy let out a startled bark of laughter while Slytherin returned her wicked grin and took her left hand, pulling out a ring box. Opening the black velvet box, he pulled out an emerald ring before slipping it onto her left ring finger. The ring resized to fit her and she admired the large emerald set in a bed of diamonds and white gold. 

“We’ll have an engagement ball at the end of the week. I’ll make sure to invite that reporter of yours, you’ve twisted her around your finger quite nicely.” Slytherin commented with a glint of humor in his eyes and she just smirked. 

“Everyone needs pets.” She shrugged.

* * *

“Lyra, we need to get to Diagon if you want to get to Twifitt & Tatting’s to buy a dress!” Severus clambered through the kitchen with a cup of coffee and his outer robe in hand. She was content to not listen, focused on finishing out the song. Severus just sighed and settled in to listen as she made herself a cup of tea. 

“O mio babbino caro,

mi piace, è bello bello,

vo’andare in Porta Rossa

a comperar l’anello!”

She swayed gently to the instrumental track being played on the muggle stereo she’d convinced Severus to buy, loving the feeling of being immersed in sound.

“Si, si, ci voglio andare!

E se l’amassi indarno,

andrei sul Ponte Vecchio

ma per buttarmi in Arno!

Mi struggo e mi tormento,

O Dio! Vorrei morir!

Babbo, pietà, pietà!

Babbo, pietà, pietà!”

She finished singing, savoring the last note entirely as she downed her tea and pulled Severus up and toward the floo. She watched as he chugged the coffee in his hand before placing the mug on the desk and they flooed to Diagon Alley. 

She took her father’s arm after they’d both dusted themselves free of soot and they started through the Leaky Cauldron and into the Alley toward Twilfitt. Bundling into the store, she was greeted by the sight of Vincent, the tailor, and Marie. As they quickly got to work, placing her order, she pretended not to see Sev sit down with an exasperated sigh. She also made preparations for her wedding dress to be made, trusting no one else to make it but her most trusted wizarding tailor.

Once they were finished at Twilfitt & Tatting’s, they made their way to Gringotts so she could pull some jewelry to match the dress Vincent was creating for her. As they were stepping out of the floo at home, she turned to her father with a sinister smile. 

“Would you send an owl to Thomas and tell him to invite the Weasleys? I want an excuse to start a blood feud and adopt Fred and George. And since everyone knows the Weasleys are in Dumbledore’s pocket, it will surely take him down a few pegs. Especially if the time on the Weasleys’ invitation just so happened to be an hour or two after the start of the ball…,” she smirked at her father as he sat down to write a letter while she went outside to be with Nephthys and the boys.

* * *

The dress she’d chosen was a white gown with a black lace overlay. The lace detailing created three quarter sleeves and an off the shoulder neckline as well as a slight train for the dress. The jewels she’d chosen were a black diamond necklace and matching earrings, which her engagement ring changed colors to match. She was glad that the piece of jewelry had had that charm inlayed into it. Her usual emerald necklace was tucked into the neckline of her dress, a little pocket made specifically for it in use. 

Her hair was pulled into a large bun at the nape of her neck, and she’d allowed her makeup to be more subtle, highlighting her natural beauty. Her three lordship rings sat proudly on her right hand with her engagement ring on her left. Simple black pumps accompanied the look, and she looked over herself in a mirror as she pulled a black silk wrap across her elbows. 

She and Severus were set to leave about twenty minutes before the rest of the guests arrived, so as she made her way into the study, she looked over her father in his usual black, billowing robes. Anubis, Nepthys and Sobek were all with him and she smiled softly as she threw floo powder in for them and watched them disappear into the flames. With a sigh and a fond smile, she tucked a stray strand of hair behind the man’s ear as she was guided toward the floo. With a splash of floo powder they were in Slytherin Castle’s floo room, the doors opened invitingly and there were marble pillars with vases of white flowers leading toward the ballroom.

Wizards and witches had been hired to guide the guests to the ballroom as well as serve food and drink. Taking her father’s offered arm, they started on the path toward the ballroom. 

The castle was filled with flowers, all in white. She could see lily of the valley, peonies, nemesia, roses, hydrangeas, rose of sharon, moonflower, butterfly bush and more she couldn’t name. They approached the ballroom, and she saw Thomas standing there in emerald green robes with the Slytherin and Gaunt crests embroidered in silver over his heart. 

As he turned toward them, she pretended not to notice the slight hitch of his breath or the barely there widening of his eyes. With a flourish, he held white carnations in his hand, and gently began to place them at the top of her bun. Her cheeks flushed slightly. How did he know her favorite flower?

“Perfect. You look lovely, Lyra.” She allowed her arm to slip from her father’s as her wrap was taken and probably handed to a server. As Thomas offered her his arm, she took it gladly and smiled as they began their wait for their guests. Anubis sat behind the couple, looking bored, while Sobek attempted to gum Anubis’ ear to death. Nepthys had already left them for the comfort of the back garden. 

“Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.” She replied cheekily. Thomas just gave her a grin as the first of their guests arrived, Severus coming to stand a few steps behind and to the right of her, trying to keep Anubis from getting fur on his robes. The Malfoys approached swiftly, Lord Malfoy leading his wife by the arm with Draco following a few steps behind. 

“Lucius, Narcissa. We’re so glad you could make it.” Thomas began and she smiled sweetly at the couple before sending a sharper grin to her friend. 

“My Lord,” Lucius began, looking over at the direwolf warily, before bowing his head and turning, hesitating slightly. “My Lady,” he bowed his head to her just the same, and part of her was shocked. She didn’t allow herself to show her surprise, instead opting to smile. 

“Lord Malfoy, I’m very pleased to see you and your family.” She nodded slightly to the man before turning to Narcissa with a warm smile. “Lady Malfoy, I had hoped we would meet tonight.” 

“Please, just call me Cissa. I won’t have titles floating around with family.” The older woman smiled at her and she chuckled softly. 

“Then you must call me Lyra. Aunt Cissa, I’m so glad you could come. I’m sure Draco has spilled his fair share of stories about me.” She smiled as the boy behind Cissa flushed scarlet. 

“He has.” Her newly proclaimed aunt laughed before glancing toward the path where more guests were making their way over. “We must speak soon, dear. I’ll take your father and make sure he socializes.” With that, Aunt Cissa ushered her family and a stunned Severus into the ballroom as she giggled. 

She heard Anubis walk off, probably to join Nepthys in the garden as Sobek was deposited onto her shoulder. The little lizard promptly curled around her ear and she chuckled. The stream of guests passed quickly, and soon the usual half hour of greeting the guests was up as she and Thomas glided into the ballroom. 

Inside, there were more white flowers and columns of marble. Thomas led her to the middle of the ballroom and he took two glasses of champagne, offering one to her before taking a spoon that a server offered and hitting it lightly against the glass. As everyone turned to face them, she pasted a loving look onto her face as she looked at Thomas. 

“My fiancée and I would like to thank you all for coming to celebrate our engagement. I know I speak for both of us when I say we’re ecstatic to share our joy with you.” He turned to look at her with a smile that could melt iron as he raised his glass. “So I would like to propose a toast for my lovely bride-to-be. To a glorious future. I hope to spend eternity by your side, in this world and the next.”

She drew closer as cries of ‘A glorious future!’ were heard, and she clasped Thomas’ free hand before clinking their glasses together. Taking a small sip she smiled up at her groom. 

“To a glorious future, Tom.” She lifted up onto her toes as she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth as music began to play. Giggling to herself, she snatched Tom’s champagne away, handing both glasses to a server before dragging the brunette out onto the dance floor. He led her in a graceful waltz and they shared a smile. Sobek hissed contentedly in her ear as Tom led her about the room, other couples joining them. Perhaps if this is what it was like when Dumbledore was gone, she could grow fond of this man.

* * *

It had been about two hours and the Weasleys were due to arrive any minute. Everyone was laughing, dancing and drinking and she slowly made her way over to Rita with a friendly smile. 

“Rita! It’s so good to see you!” She exclaimed softly as she gently took the woman’s hands in what would hopefully correspond to youthful adoration. 

“Lady Potter! I’m so glad to be here. I was quite surprised to find the invitation.” Rita looked at her probingly and she beamed at the woman, the picture of innocence. 

“It’s because after all you’ve done for me, I consider you a dear friend, and I wanted to share my joy with you.” She smiled at the woman, pretending not to notice the sharklike smile. “You’ve done so much for me, and I wanted to repay you. I don’t know if being the first person to write about the engagement will at least show you some of the appreciation I have for you.” 

It was at that moment the Weasleys decided to burst through the door, halting the various conversations as well as the music. She smiled apologetically at Rita before moving toward Tom, slipping her hand into the crook of his arm as they glided as one toward the Weasleys. 

She surveyed them and noticed that Fred, George and three others, probably their older brothers, were dressed appropriately for a ball whilst Mr. and Mrs. Weasley along with Ronald and their youngest were dressed in robes barely better than rags. She and Tom stopped about four feet in front of the group, and it was then that she noticed the bushy haired Ravenclaw Andri had taken to the Yule Ball dressed in muggle clothes beside Ronald. 

“The Weasleys…,” Tom drawled, before glancing toward the Ravenclaw. “And guest. How nice of you to finally join us.”

“Finally? We’re right on time.” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed haughtily, her nose in the air. She allowed her brow to furrow, as if confused, as she glanced at her fiancé. 

“Mrs. Weasley, I’m afraid you’re two hours late.” The eldest and youngest Weasleys gaped at her before Mrs. Weasley went as red as a lobster. 

“Two hours?! Your invitation said this party started at ten! Now you mean to tell me it started at eight?!” The mother weasel shrieked and she pretended to cower, drawing closer to Tom. 

“Mrs. Weasley, may I see your invitation?” Tom held his hand out expectantly, and Mrs. Weasley handed it over. Tom read it over before handing it to her. The time did indeed say ten, so she just pushed a bit of wandless magic into the paper to change the writing to eight. With her brow still furrowed, she turned back to the Weasleys. 

“Mrs. Weasley, your invitation does indeed say eight.” She handed the invitation back to Tom who handed it back to the mother weasel who began fuming. 

“Is this some kind of joke?! You changed the lettering! It said ten!” Mrs. Weasley screamed at her and she allowed herself to flinch.

“Mrs. Weasley, kindly do not berate my fiancée for your own error.” Tom drawled before looking down at her lovingly. 

“Fiancée?! Mummy, you said Lyra Potter would be mine!” The youngest Weasley shrieked. “You said the potions would work!” 

She reeled back, this time, truly shocked. The Weasleys had tried to dose her?! That means Dumbledore had tried to dose her! She was done, utterly and completely. 

“You tried to dose me?” She growled lowly, watching the youngest weasel’s eyes widen as the girl realized her mistake. With her free hand, she pressed the necklace in the neckline of her dress. “Anubis! Nephthys!” The direwolf and the kelpie appeared at her side, Anubis growling fiercely while Nepthys pawed at the floor. 

“N-No! We’d never!” Ronald tried to cover up his sister’s mistake, but she was having none of it. 

“Fred, George.” The twins straightened at their names. “Now is the time to choose between your birth family or the family that accepts you both completely.” She watched the twins glance at each other before leaving the Weasleys and standing just a step behind her. 

““We renounce the name Weasley. The traitors have hurt our sister in all but blood and we wish nothing to do with them.”” The twins spoke together. ““So we say, so mote it be.”” She grinned at the shock on the Weasleys faces before speaking again.

“As my brothers, I shall allow you to speak for members of your family who have not harmed me, if you should both speak for them as one.” She glanced briefly at the twins and saw them nodding. 

““We vouch for Charlie, Percy and William of the Weasley clan. We ask that our sister allow them to join us as your brothers.”” She glanced at the three eldest Weasley children and she saw their shock but also hope in their eyes. 

“Should they leave of their own volition, they will be welcomed as my kin.” The three boys looked at each other before speaking. 

““We renounce the name Weasley. The traitors have hurt our sister in all but blood and we wish nothing to do with them.”” The three boys spoke together as they moved to stand next to the twins. ““So we say, so mote it be.”” She smiled sharply at the flabbergasted Weasleys. 

“I hereby declare blood feud against the House of Weasley. Allies of the Houses Potter, Black and Peverell will offer you nothing but fury.” She said, commanding her voice to come out strong. “So I say, so mote it be.” 

“I hereby declare blood feud against the House of Weasley. Allies of the Houses Gaunt and Slytherin will offer you nothing but fury.” Tom said after her. “So I say, so mote it be.”

With those words, the Weasley family was ruined. She smiled inwardly, before the Ravenclaw decided to shout at her, face full of righteous fury. 

“You can’t do that!” The bushy haired, buck toothed girl screeched. She turned coldly to the girl.

“What is your name?” She intoned with a voice full of danger as Nephthys puffed her breath behind her. 

“H-Hermione Granger.” The girl said, barely stumbling. Lyra looked at Tom, who just looked amused as he nodded. She turned back to the girl with a smile full of teeth. 

“You, a muggleborn nobody, dares tell me, a pureblood Lady of three houses, soon to be five, what I can and cannot do?” She glared at the girl as she began shrieking again. 

“Blood purist! You’re a dark witch!” Granger screeched, and Lyra rolled her eyes. 

“Granger, the man I call father is a halfblood and I just adopted five supposed blood traitors. Do not speak to me of blood purist ideals.” She watched as the Granger girl began to seethe before finally boiling over. 

“Dumbledore will destroy you!” That was it for the muggleborn. She smiled coldly.

“I hereby declare blood feud with the House of Granger. Allies of the Houses Potter, Black and Peverell will offer you nothing but fury.” She smiled at the girl. “So I say, so mote it be.”

She waited until Tom finished his vow of blood feud after her before she smiled sweetly at the girl. Granger began to shriek again, this time with a haughty grin. 

“Ha! I’m muggleborn, blood feuds have no effect on me!” The girl sniffed and she rolled her eyes. 

“Oh, I think they do.” Lyra smiled coldly at her. “I just ruined your chances in this world, along with your descendants’ chances.”


	7. Seduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://omigod.tumblr.com/post/636162250169876481/lyras-wedding-look

LYRA POTTER ENGAGED: DUMBLEDORE MOVING AGAINST YOUNG LOVERS?

by Rita Skeeter

My dear readers, I come to you with both happy and disturbing news. 

Me, myself and I were invited to the engagement ball of Lady Lyra Potter Black Peverell and Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin. Lady Potter herself welcomed me at the gorgeous affair with these very words. 

“I consider you a dear friend, and I wanted to share my joy with you.” The Lady said with a besotted smile as she glanced back at her betrothed. 

Lady Potter and Lord Slytherin looked very much in love as they shared the first dance of the evening. The ball, held at Slytherin Castle, was a huge success in only the first hour. Lord Slytherin certainly outdid himself with the decorations for his young bride, the castle completely dripping in candles and white flowers. 

Lady Potter was a vision in a black lace gown and Lord Slytherin dashing in emerald green dress robes (see pg. 3-4 for pictures). The pair complimented each other beautifully, the TriWizard champion and the notoriously cold Lord looking completely in love. Lords, Ladies, Heirs and Heiresses from all over came to offer their congratulations to the happy couple. 

It all took a turn for the worse when the Weasley family plus one Hermione Granger burst into the hall two hours late, blaming their gracious hosts’ invitation for their lateness. Unfortunately, when the Weasley matriarch began to take out her anger on the poor Lady Potter when it was discovered their invitation said the correct time. Lord Slytherin interceded on his fiancée’s behalf before something truly shocking was revealed. 

The only daughter of the Weasley clan began to shout when she discovered it was an engagement ball, and quickly disclosed that Lady Potter was ‘supposed to be hers’ and that the Weasley family was dosing the dear Lady with potions, most probably amortentia. The pure shock and horror on Lady Potter’s face would have been enough to wrench the heart from even the coldest of chests.

Lady Potter and Lord Slytherin swiftly declared a blood feud on the Weasley clan, but then Lady Potter did something truly unexpected. 

She adopted the five eldest Weasley children into her family after they renounced the Weasley clan and swore themselves to her as the Lady’s brothers. If Lady Potter isn’t a kind soul, I don’t know who is! She named the five her brothers in all but blood, and it is still unclear which name the former Weasleys have taken. 

Even more shocking was the declaration of the muggleborn brought to the ball by the Weasleys. One Hermione Granger berated Lady Potter ending with this quote;

“Dumbledore will destroy you!” 

Lady Potter clutched at Lord Slytherin, seeming to draw comfort from her fiancé as she declared a blood feud on the Grangers as well with Lord Slytherin close behind. 

I ask you this, dear readers. Is Dumbledore moving against a happy young couple? Why would someone try to dose sweet Lady Potter with amortentia? How could someone so diabolical be living in our society and will we stand by and watch as they prey on the innocents’ happiness?

This has been Rita Skeeter with another report. Stay safe, dear readers. Things are never as they seem.

* * *

Lyra had given her brothers the Black name. While the Potter and Peverell names only had, well… her, they didn’t need the good publicity as much as the Black name did. She’d quickly sequestered the boys in the Black ancestral manor after taking them all to Gringotts and adopting them formally, letting them get used to their new circumstances. She’d already ordered new wardrobes for all of them, Vincent being elated as well as exasperated at her shopping habits. 

Currently, she was sitting in the garden behind the house on Spinner’s End with Fleur, Pansy and Daphne. The girls had insisted on a bridal shower before the wedding in two months, so here they were, laughing and drinking champagne in her father’s garden. 

“You still won’t let us see your wedding dress?” Fleur griped from her spot on the white blanket that they’d spread across the grass. 

“Of course not. I want it to be a surprise.” She grinned as all her female friends groaned. Draco, Blaise, Theo, Greg and Vinny were all coming for dinner that night but the girls had insisted that the day be for them. 

“Has Slytherin seen it?” Pansy wheedled, placing her head in Lyra’s lap. She laughed and started combing through the brown locks suddenly thrust upon her with her fingers. 

“I haven’t even seen it. I asked Vincent to make it, you know he designs all my clothes.” Daphne groaned, grabbing her hand. 

“Well, can we pick out your jewelry together?” She smiled fondly at her blonde friend, nodding her head. 

“I’d like that.” The girls all squealed happily as Lyra chuckled and flicked Fleur’s nose when the Veela began to shake her back and forth. 

The boys were with them when they all went down to the main Peverell vault to pick out jewelry. The girls plus Draco had insisted that the set have emeralds and diamonds to match her engagement ring. They must have viewed hundreds of options before settling on a simple set and picking up a hair clip in a similar style. 

The wedding was a week away and they were set to pick up her dress after the trip to Gringotts. With the jewelry shrunken and tucked into her purse, she and her entourage slipped into Diagon Alley and toward Twilfitt & Tatting’s. She entered the shop alone after pushing her whining friends toward Fortescue’s to get ice cream.

Lyra was quickly drawn into the back for her fitting by Marie, waving to Vincent as they walked past. By the time the dress was shrunken and in her purse, she was beaming from ear to ear. Vincent had outdone himself, as usual, and she’d look like a queen on her wedding day.

* * *

She, Pansy, Fleur and Daphne were all isolated in the Lady’s suite in Slytherin Castle, doing her makeup and hair before the wedding. Her hair had been pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck, the diamond and emerald hair clip slipped into place at the top of the bun. 

The suite was decorated with hoards of white flowers in crystal vases, light shining through the crystal to create rainbows on the carpeted floor. Her dress was hanging on the screen in the corner of the room, and she smiled as Daphne painted her lips a soft pink. Her makeup was very neutral to bring out her natural beauty, creams and scrubs having been rubbed onto the skin the night before. A stasis charm was quickly cast over her makeup before they moved forward. Rose water perfume was smoothed onto her neck and wrists before slipping into her dress. 

The a-line gown had a tulle skirt and sheer, tulle sleeves with a sweetheart neckline. Floral appliqués decorated the bodice, and a line of buttons swept up the netted back. Stepping out from behind the screen, she flushed as her friends squealed.

“Vincent is a god!” Pansy shrieked, and she giggled as she quickly sat back down. Fleur slipped her jewelry on and Pansy helped her with her shoes. Standing back up, she looked herself over in the floor length mirror. She looked like a goddess, the dress making her look as if she were floating. Vincent really was a god. 

Pansy tucked her cathedral length, lace veil into the top of her bun before the emerald hair clip before stepping away to gaze at her with a fond smile, Daphne and Fleur joining her.

A knock sounded at the door, and Sev came sweeping into the room in his signature black robes. He stopped mid-step to stare at her, and she smiled shyly at her Papa while her friends slipped out of the room. Sev’s eyes were wide as she spun slowly for him to see all of her dress. Her moving snapped him out of his trance, and he quickly pulled her in for a hug. 

“Who are you dressing up for?” Papa whispered softly into her hair. She laughed and squeezed him harder. 

“Myself, Papa.” She felt him nod against her head before drawing back. The man nodded stiffly before flipping the elbow length front of her veil over her face and offering her his arm. 

“They’re ready for you, everyone’s arrived and seated.” She nodded as they exited her suite and traveled down staircase after staircase before finally coming into the entrance hall. The ceremony would be in the gardens, and her father led her out slowly to the large outdoor event space. 

The garden paths were all paved with gravel, the patio being made up of flagstones. Long wooden benches were set up to create an aisle, which was covered in different white petals. Columns with vases full of white flowers lined the aisle, an archway of flowers marking the end of the pathway. Once she and Sev reached the top of the aisle, an elf handed her a bouquet of carnations which she slipped under her veil as the pianist they’d hired started to play Clair de Lune. 

Every man, woman and child stood to gaze at her as a bashful smile came over her face. Tom, in crisp black dress robes turned to face her with a charming grin on his own face. She and Severus moved down the aisle slowly, the music accompanying their soft steps. Once they’d reached the altar, Sev took her hand gently and placed it into Tom’s outstretched one before moving to sit at the front, taking her bouquet with him. She was guided to stand in front of Tom, a gentle smile gracing her lips as the officiant began the wedding. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here to witness the union of these two people in the everlasting joy of matrimony.” The man droned. “To complete this union, may our bride and bridegroom sign the contract they themselves have written.” She watched as Tom signed his name on the parchment before she followed after him, looping letters gracing the page. 

“Should anyone object to the marriage of Lady Potter Black Peverell and Lord Gaunt Slytherin, speak now, or forever hold your peace.” 

“I object.” She whirled around to find Dumbledore standing in the aisle. With fear in her eyes, she drew closer to Tom as he stepped in front of her. There were muted gasps in the crowd as Tom drew his wand on the old man.

“You were not invited, Dumbledore, and considering what you did to my bride, you should be arrested.” Tom growled. Dumbledore stood there, unfazed, as Sev got up to stand in front of her as well. 

“Lyra has obviously been dosed with amortentia. She’s not in her right mind.” The old man reasoned, and she fumed. 

“Your pet Weasleys tried to dose me with amortentia! Everyone knows the Weasleys are in your pocket, Dumbledore!” She cried before drawing her wand out of a pocket in a fit of rage. Hefting her wand toward the sky, she began. “Lady Hecate! I ask that if I have been under the influence of amortentia perpetrated by Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin, you turn him into a pig!” 

They waited. Nothing happened. 

“Lady Hecate! I now ask that if I have been harmed in unthinkable ways that were perpetrated by Albus Dumbledore, you remove him from my wedding!” Faint amusement and rage brushed through the air, the amusement aimed at herself whilst the rage rammed through Dumbledore. The crowd watched in subdued horror as his magic seeped from his body and the old man disappeared into thin air and a scroll with the Lady’s crest appeared in the air. Tom took it, lifting the seal to read the contents, before laughing. 

“I, Lady Hecate, do hereby remove Albus Dumbledore from Lyra Potter and Thomas Gaunt’s wedding for his crimes against Lyra Potter.” Tom read with amusement in his voice. She grinned as her father sighed and sat back down, rubbing a hand over his temple. They glanced together at the officiant who just chuckled and continued. 

“Lord Thomas Marvolo Gaunt Slytherin, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you consent, being of sound mind and body, to commit yourself to her for the rest of your days?” Tom smiled at her. 

“I do, being of sound mind and body.” A blush graced her cheeks as he vowed to become her husband.

“Lady Lyra Euphemia Potter Black Peverell, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you consent, being of sound mind and body, to commit yourself to him for the rest of your days?” Lyra glanced up at Tom, who gazed at her with amusement. 

“I do, being of sound mind and body.” She continued gently. 

“You may now kiss your bride!” The officiant exclaimed as Tom flipped her veil off her face and dipped down to kiss her. It was slow and sweet, the press of lips soft and deep as she trailed her hands up to rest on Tom’s chest. They pulled away once they’d come back to themselves, finding the guests applauding. Tom laughed and quickly pulled her back up the aisle after she’d taken her bouquet from Severus.

* * *

Their guests had showered gifts down upon them along with their congratulations. She and Tom had sat side by side at the subsequent banquet, multiple toasts being made to their happiness before the ball began. 

Lyra and her new husband had been the first to dance in a sweet waltz to The Beautiful Blue Danube before she was swept away by Severus. Her father had been reluctant to release her from his hold, but as people began to greet the young bride for the first time this evening, he allowed her to leave his side. 

In her heart, she’d always be her father’s little girl, even when she had children of her own. It was touching, that this man who she’d only called father for such a short time, had already taken to the roll as naturally as breathing. She loved him dearly, and she’d do anything for him, but this marriage was about the survival of her bloodline and the destruction of Dumbledore. 

Her new brothers all had a turn with her on the dance floor, all not-so-subtly threatening to kill Tom if he tried anything. She loved them all immediately, Charlie, Bill, Percy and the twins, even if they had only just become her brothers months ago. They’d settled well into life as a Black, the tutor she’d hired to shore up their etiquette and education singing praises of their determination. 

The night was coming to a close, and they were bidding their guests farewell, her brothers and father the last to leave. Her brothers swept her up into giant hugs before flooing away with hesitant looks in their eyes. Sev pressed a kiss to her forehead with a hand on her cheek before turning to whisper something in Tom’s ear. By the way her father was smirking maliciously and Tom’s suitably cowed look, she could tell it wasn’t well wishes. 

With an exasperated sigh, she pushed the man toward the floo, watching as he disappeared into green flames. Anubis was at her side in an instant, having wheedled his way out of the party with Nephthys and Sobek. The little lizard was probably asleep upstairs, with Nephthys in the large pond on the property. Resting her head against black fur, she scratched the direwolf’s head fondly before pulling back with a tired smile. With a gentle smile to her new husband, she began to move toward the stairs.

“Good night, Tom.” She said softly, only for her hand to be caught in a much larger one. She turned with an arched brow to find him staring deeply back at her.

“You won’t… be joining me?” She laughed at the hesitant question.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” She said coyly, spotting the twitch of his lips. Perhaps it was the late hour or how much champagne she’d had that was responsible for what she said next, but she didn’t think she’d ever know. 

“Seduce me, Tom. Then we’ll see.”


	8. The Wizengamot and Thestral Herd

“You said what?!” Daphne, Pansy and Fleur shrieked together as she groaned and put her head in her hands. 

They were all laying haphazardly across her new bed in Slytherin Castle after having organized her wedding presents for her and Tom to open later. Her husband was at the Ministry today to file a complaint against Dumbledore as well as pressing charges against him for kidnapping Severus. 

“I know, I know!” She whined. “It was late, I had been drinking. He won’t take it seriously.” She wheedled as Fleur rolled her eyes. 

“+Yes, he will. Your husband will do everything in his power to get you into his bed now that you’ve given him permission, drunk or not.+” Fleur spoke in quick French, Pansy and Daphne nodding along. 

The other two girls had taken up French to be able to speak privately with the other two, even while in public. It was quite handy against eavesdropping house elves as well.

“+Fleur’s right. You need lingerie, my dear. He’ll have you falling for him sooner rather than later.+” Pansy nodded while Lyra groaned and buried her head into Daphne’s lap. Hedwig hooted from her perch, almost as if the owl agreed with Pansy’s statement. 

“+How can I possibly buy lingerie from Vincent? I’ll never be able to look at him again!+” She whined into Daphne’s lap. 

“+We’ll go to the shopping district in France. I’ve heard there’s a female designer who’s quite good.+” Fleur spoke up, stroking fingers through raven locks as the emerald eyed beauty turned to nod.

* * *

She was having tea with her brothers and father.

It was… unusually quiet. She didn’t know why no one spoke as she poured her own tea and mixed in the sugar and milk. Reclaiming her seat in her father’s sitting room, Anubis replaced his body over her feet almost like he knew she’d need the extra strength for what was sure to be an uncomfortable conversation. She had just started to take a sip of her tea when Charlie spoke up for the group. 

“He hasn’t touched you, has he?” She swallowed harshly and began to cough, bringing a hand up to her mouth as she sputtered. She should have known this would be their first question. Their moods seemed to darken at her reaction and she struggled to stop choking. 

“No! Charlie, for Merlin’s sake!” She cried as she took deep breaths of air. 

“Are you sure?” Bill chimed in, and she shot him a glare. 

“Yes, I’m sure! Dear Morgana, why on Earth are you asking?” She took a quick sip of tea while Anubis nuzzled her legs to keep her calm. She was really starting to get irritated with her family. 

“Because if he did-,” George started. 

“We’ll kill him.” Fred finished. She watched as the other four men, her father included, nodded seriously, and she grit her teeth. 

“You’re too young to be married. To be a mother. You’re too young to even look at anyone romantically, for Merlin’s sake!” Her father added, and she dropped her head into her hand. They were really trying to test her patience, weren’t they?

“Have you all forgotten who I am?” She looked at them with a critical eye, and when no one seemed to want to respond, she continued on her tirade. “I am my own woman, I don’t need knights to protect me, I need support. Like it or not, I am someone’s wife. Like it or not, I refuse to die childless!” She exclaimed, watching as the men in front of her started to look sheepish. “I bent a dragon to my will, a man will not be hard. Thomas is my husband and if I so much as catch any of you in a duel I will throw the offenders to Nephthys! Have I made myself perfectly clear?” She watched as they nodded slowly before she slumped back into her seat. 

“I don’t want to live my life without love, and I believe that when Dumbledore is finally gone, I may be able to learn to love the man who has become my husband. Please don’t make it difficult for me.” She said softly, looking into the faces of her family. 

“We’re just worried, Lyra. I’m sorry.” Sev said quietly, and she got up to give her Papa a hug. 

“And I love you all for it.”

* * *

Tom had bought her… flowers. 

She took them with a quizzical smile and instructed an elf to put them in water in her room. She cocked her head and looked at him with a furrowed brow as his shoulders slumped. 

“It’s not working, is it?” She burst into laughter. Had he really thought it would be that easy? Her laughter seemed to make him slump even more and she shook her head trying to control herself.

“Not really, no. But thank you, anyways.” She earned a smile that way as she took his arm and they stepped through the floo into the Ministry. They both wore custom Wizengamot robes, hers in royal purple and silver and his in an eggplant color and silver. Her robes looked more like a dress while Tom’s were more of a traditional cut. As they got to the chamber, Tom left her to take his seat while she stood at the doors. She watched the old bastard stand up and begin the meeting. 

“Before we begin, does anyone have any business to present?” With those words, she strode calmly into the hall, stopping in the middle as she stared Dumbledore dead in the eyes.

“I am here to claim my seats.” Her voice echoed into the hall, and she watched Dumbledore’s jaw set. She could see the tension from ten feet away. 

“And what seats, Lady Potter Black Peverell, do you have to claim? I was under the impression that Lord Gaunt Slytherin would be representing your houses.” The old man gritted out and she narrowed her eyes as she folded her hands in front of herself. 

“It’s actually Lord and Lady Potter Black Gaunt Peverell Slytherin. My husband is still lord of his houses, and I lord of mine, as per the clauses of our marriage contract state, but I truly do not know what any of that has to do with you, Chief Warlock.” Lyra intoned with a sweet smile. “It is my right to claim my seats as the last of the Potter and Peverell lines and the lady of House Black.” 

“Very well, Lady Slytherin. Please take your seats.” She could see the rage in the old man’s eyes.

“I, Lady of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter, the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Peverell, hereby confer my seats to the Dark Faction. So I say, so mote it be.” She said with authority, and the Light and Neutral Factions began to shout. With a sigh, she clapped her hands as loud as she could, shutting everyone up. 

“Need I remind my fellow Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot that the Light Faction has wronged all of my houses in some way or another? Need I remind the Wizengamot that the Weasley family admitted to dosing me with potions in front of over two hundred witnesses before saying that our esteemed Chief Warlock would, and I quote, ‘destroy me’?”

“Do I need to remind the Lords and Ladies that the Chief Warlock burst into my wedding, uninvited, and claimed my husband dosed me with amortentia after his own self proclaimed lackeys admitted to dosing me themselves? Must I go on to say that I asked Lady Magic to intercede and turn my husband into a pig if he had dosed me and remove the Chief Warlock from the celebration if he had committed unforgivable wrongs against me and my houses?” She turned her sharp, emerald eyes on the members of the Wizengamot, most looking suitably cowed while Dumbledore looked like he was about to explode.

“Shall I remind the Wizengamot that my husband was not turned into a pig and our esteemed Chief Warlock was removed from the premises by Lady Magic herself?” When no one responded, she went to claim her seats on the top tier of the Dark Faction.

* * *

The bloody thestrals had followed her to Slytherin Castle. 

There was an entire herd of thestrals in the back garden and Nephthys was just enjoying being a slightly abnormal horse with her new slightly abnormal horse pals. She actually groaned when she woke up and looked out the window and only saw thestrals. They were legitimately everywhere, and the elves were darting in and out of groups, trying to get them to disperse. 

Lyra sighed softly. It seemed she now had a herd of thestrals added to her list of fuzzy friends.


End file.
